Light up your life...

Ever heard of a compact fluorescent lightbulb or CFL. It is a funny looking swirly thing that fits into the light socket. They cost a bit more than incandescent bulbs but use 1/4 of the energy, and last several years longer. They are sold in nearly every location where lightbulbs are generally sold. In fact, recently The Home Depot was selling these bulbs for $ .74 a piece so they are certainly becoming more mainstream and lower in price.

A new 7 watt CFL will be comparable to a regular 40 watt bulb. A 26 watt CFL is equal to 100 watts and so on. Make sure to look for the Energy Star label.

Make sure you throw these bulbs away in the recycle bin as they now contain minute parts of mercury to eliminate the flicker when you turn on the light. They even make new CFL's that can be installed with dimmer switches. NICE.

Vintage Clothes

There are many stores, besides the Goodwills, that have high end hand me downs. They call this vintage clothiers. Sometimes these shops have second hand clothes that have never been worn. Buying vintage is a more ecological means of fashion. By purchasing a shirt or pants the second time around means that you avoid all of the energy used in production and shipping costs associated with the transaction helping to reduce the associated carbon emissions.

Clothing is one of the most damaging products on the global market for carbon emissions. Every item has an impact on the environment. There are synthetic fabrics made from petroleum , the cotton fabrics account for less than 3% of the farmed land globally but it consumes huge amounts of water and approx. 1/4 of all of the pesticides.

My wife has been going to clothing swaps for years now and is enjoying the great finds and women she has been able to meet. If you don't need to always have the newest styles here are a few links for you to learn more about clothing swaps in your area:

Swap Style

Clothing Swap Organization

The Greens Organization

Open the Window

There is nearly 25 tons of CO2 emissions that come from every American home each year. We have included a few ideas that could be accomplished in just a few weekends that will change your home and your life, today.

How about opening the window rather than turning on the AC. Make sure your doors and windows are sealed with weatherstipping and caulked. If your Water Heater has no insulating blanket around it we suggest you add one. It is very easy to do, and anyone can accomplish this task. You can also turn the thermostat on the WH down after this task saving more energy. Better yet, install an On Demand WH, or known as a Tankless WH to save on water and energy consumption. How about washing your clothes at night time in warm or cold water. Add in a natural Oxy powder to the laundry rather than bleach so your water works harder to get your clothes clean more naturally. If you adjust your thermostat only two degrees higher in the summer and two degrees lower in the winter will save on your energy bills as well as your CO2 level. Make sure your walls and ceilings are insulated. You can also install a Thermal insulating blanket in the attic which will repel the suns thermal energy that heats your home in the summer time. We also suggest installing a HEPA filter on your air return vent, and clean your air ducts. This will help keep your interior air cleaner and take out dust, pet dander, and other air particulates. You will feel better after this action, especially if you have anyone with allergies in the home.

These little things will make your home much more comfortable immediately and create a solid impact on your CO2 levels your home emits. You will find it to be a noticeable change in your living environment.

The first of many green ideas for the new year

We hope that you all had a wonderful and safe holiday season. As this year comes to an end we wanted to close out the year with a steady flow of blog entries and bring in the new year with a string of green ideas to help move eco consciousness forward. These ideas will help your immediate carbon footprint, with something that you personally can begin with, as well as some that will help the global carbon footprint, by us a society that we could begin to do.

Let's start with something that we all can begin to work on. An easy thing that we all can do to help eliminate the constant paper trail in our homes is to do our bill paying and banking online. The online security has come a long way to make this action safe. Just ignore the e-mails that are "phishing" for personal data. You should monitor all electronic statements and report any problems immediately and your credit won't get hit. This action alone will save trees, help eliminated fuel consumption by the trucks and planes that need to transport the paper checks and bills every month. We could cut solid waste by 1.6 billion tons a year and curb greenhouse emissions by 2.1 million tons a year according to the research group Javelin Strategy and Research.

You should ask your employer to directly deposit your paycheck to help you eliminate the noxious gases emitted from your car to the bank on paycheck day. You would eliminate your time waiting in the bank line, and you will have your money in your bank faster, too.

These small actions could begin to help the environment immediately. The overall impact would be measurable, albeit small, but the feel good factor would be quite high.

Ships in a bottle or bottles in the sand...

Let's go back a bit and talk about plastic bottles and water again. Beverage containers make up approx. 15% of all packaging waste in the U.S. Americans “throw away” about 200 billion, with a B, containers, including aluminum cans and plastic bottles every year.
As of the year 2000, according to the Container Recycling Institute, only 31% were recycled. CRI placed pressure on the large bottlers Pepsi and Coke to begin to use recycled content in their bottles. This action will not only reduce waste, but it would also take less energy and be better for the environment. If they were to make aluminum bottles from recycled aluminum it would require 95% less energy than producing one from the virgin material. In doing this, the beverage companies could save over 1.6 million barrels of crude oil to produce the plastic bottles. Pepsi announced a statement saying that they would use 10% recycled material for their bottles. Coke responded by stating that they were already doing so. However, they were also already using bottles in other countries with 25% recycled material.

Even with these recycling numbers it still means that two thirds of all bottles and cans go into the landfill. There are 11 states with bottle bills on their books. This means that there is a deposit for the consumer upon purchase of the beverage. These deposits are generally 5 -10 cents. States with plans with a ten cent deposit have seen as much as 97% return rates back to the stores for recycling. If you wish to help CRI with their efforts to persuade lawmakers to create more bottle bills you can contact them at CRI.

Much of this problem can be reduced on your part by not buying products like bottled water to begin with. As we stated previously finding a good water filter for you home or kitchen to purify your tap water can help reduce the debris of bottles that get thrown away every year. It takes 45 million gallons of oil to produce the bottled water that is sold in America every year.

Where does all of our garbage go?

My wife once asked me a question that has created some numerous conversations for us over the years, that being, “Where does all of the garbage go?” This is a critical question and should not be taken lightly. Most people simply want their cans emptied, removed and to then get rid of the stuff for an out of sight out of mind. We have reached a point in our growing global society to become well aware of the direct impact that refuse has on our local and planetary ecosystems.

Here is a short list – buy less, consume less, avoid single use items, reuse or recycle everything we can. Eat local, and fresh as much as possible.

We will continue this discussion with more detailed entries on this topic.

H2O is the tie that binds...

Did you know that it takes nearly 64 ounces oil to create a 16 ounce bottle of water. These calculations take into account the processing, filtering, bottle creation, labels, etc. This does not include transportation of the product to the shelves for purchase. It is widely known that over 60% of consumer purchased bottled water comes from the tap. The bottling corporations will then filter, bottle, and ship the filtered tap water to the store for end sales. With a planet covered in water, yet only approx. 2% of the world's water as drinkable, we know that there is a water shortage. In the long run for our water needs conservation will not be the only means to maintain our supply.

It is simple math really. As our population continues to expand, this puts a strain on our food supply. As more crops are necessary to plant in order to feed the people and animals these crops need water. Farmers use nearly 90% of all the needed water supply. Farmers are also subsidized for their water costs, yet a high percentage of farmers will water their crops in the middle of the day. Most of this precious commodity will not even go into good use as it will evaporate before it reaches through the soil. A city dweller might pay $1200 per cubic foot acre when a farmer will pay $17. As the battle for water continues we see cities buy out these water credits from farmers for future water scarcity times. The system is broken.

Although, Las Vegas, known for its dry and arid climate reclaims nearly all of its water. They then filter it and pump it back into nearby Lake Mead to where it is held to be used again. Lake Mead has been in a steady declining drought in the past 7 years. It has reached levels that have unearthed an ancient “lost city” that was drowned by the creation of Lake Mead. The lake has gone below one of its two pump levels making the city dash to create a lower third pump station.

Perhaps having a natural landscape to the true environment would help so residents would not need to water. Instead of buying bottled water it would be best to purify your water at home and carry a mug or thermos instead. These are little things that can make big change if we can all do our part for this scarce commodity and our planet.

a rate, is a rate, is a rate...

With the new rate cut from the Feds are we to be expecting a slow turn around in consumer confidence? Did we really think that a 1/2 point adjustment would save the day? Why is there such a backlash with the 1/4 point reduction. This should show us that the Fed's don't see the economy in such dire straits that they must cut more. First the press was telling how Greenspan was a failure, now that they can reflect in retrospect, as they now say he slashed rates too haphazardly. Yet, then when they are wanting another rate cut, it's okay if it is from Bernanke? Or has our system changed so that it is okay to slash now? The economic numbers are still strong. This is more of the fear based "free" press.

A new rate on the horizon...

The feds are deciding a new rate in the morning. We'll see how things progress from an expected 1/4 point reduction.

A lighter shade of green

We have been seeing a declining dollar for bit now. With the Dow on a string of positive closing days as we approach the Fed meeting to decide on a possible rate decrease, there is optimism. Will the Yuan get a restructuring to help offset China's inflationary concerns? Will the oil rich countries begin to revalue their commodity pricing(oil) to a basket of different currencies? Will the recent government's decisions to get involved in mediating to reconcile the subprime debacle help with consumer confidence?

With a China Yuan restructure we would see a bit of help in the exchange numbers with the United States. Perhaps we could add to this with maintaining the import laws and product safety from China and other trading partners. These steps are already in place they just need to begin to be enforced. These moves would give a boost to our export numbers immediately.

Over the long term, if the oil region would revalue their oil pricing to a basket of currencies there would be a more balanced overall price point to the other regions that import the crude. Perhaps this move would spread the value throughout the various consumers of their product without putting so much responsibility on the greenback. This action in the short term would hurt the dollar, however, in the long run a hold a more stable means of controlling the currency fluctuation and barrel pricing increases necessary.

As the government begins to get involved with the United States subprime situation to help bring some band-aid to the crisis there are many who feel the government should stay out of this one. Is this type of involvement necessary for the government?

So many questions?

Where, oh where, will the interest rates be?

Today, the Bank of England has reduced the UK interest rates from 5.75% to 5.5%. There has not been a rate reduction there since August of 2005. This rate cut comes as their economy has been showing signs of a slowdown. Their anticipation of this cut is to prevent the slowdown from getting out of control. The European Central Bank held its benchmark of 4% despite the growing Euro and rising inflation there. Although, they are keeping a close eye on the U.S. and its subprime mortgage situation and its continued effects on the overall marketplace. All of this comes in line with expectations that a rate cut is due the U.S. for the same reasons.

With the oil pricing and food cost increases with the European community of 315 Million consumers has left a wake of concern as inflationary fears continue there. This created a delicate decision process for the Bank of England. Though this should stave off some of the growing fears and stabilize consumer confidence as surveys there show housing prices to be falling.

United States Treasury Secretary Paulson issued a statement today claiming confidence in the Government's discussions with Banks to agree on a plan to lock in rates on the millions of upcoming teaser loan rate increases. Fannie Mae CEO, Mudd, said that the cap on ARM's should last for at least two to three years. Many of these loans begin at rates of 7-9 percent, or less in some cases and are expected to reset to 11-13 percent. All of these new rate locks are aimed at keeping people in their homes. It was noted that the borrowers with steady incomes and relatively clean payment histories will be the focus of the restructuring deal. The overall public concern on this issue is the backlash that may be created through which economic demographic will benefit the most from this restructuring plan. There are numerous fears that the lower income first time home buyer may get left out of the picture.

Paulson has identified four categories of subprime borrowers to focus on in coming to these tough decisions. There are those who can afford to pay adjustable-rate loans; those who don't have the financial wherewithal to sustain home ownership; those who choose to refinance their mortgages which he called "the first, best option" and those who can afford the introductory rate but not the adjusted one. The government seems focused on helping the last category.

Despite all of this confusion and concern the Treasury Chief remained adamant that while the housing recession and credit crunch will impose restrictions of the U.S. economic growth, he maintains, as do we, that the economy remains sound. The fundamentals are stable with continued job gains, healthy corporate balance sheets, rising exports, and a newly reduced oil pricing are easing some consumer fears as well.

We feel that despite these ups and downs the strength of the fundamentals of the dollar will be reflected in foreign exchange markets. As we have discussed previously, the dollar is widely held throughout the world as a reserve that this holds weight to the stability of the currency as a whole. There should certainly be discussions throughout this economic slowdown on a global scale as to create new measures of inflationary protections for all. This may mean getting back to a gold standard for a better balance to the overall board.

The printed Dollar hangs in the "im"balance

In the long run,, the value of paper money becomes zero. Money is a natural development in the open marketplace. In the past as governments gained power they assumed monopoly control over money. History has shown us that in time governments learned to outspend their revenues. New or higher taxes have always ticked people off, so it wasn’t long the learned power learned how to inflate their currencies by reducing the amount of gold in each coin. Of course the governments did this action always hoping their subjects wouldn’t discover the fraud. They always found out, and they always objected.

It was back in January of 1980 when gold reached a record high or $835. Base this on today's prices to include inflation and you come up with $2,250. That said, gold, right now is a bargain.

Currencies rise. Point in fact, the Euro, in its infancy (2002) was worth $ .86 to the dollar. Currencies fall. As now it takes $1.48 dollars to buy that same one Euro. Peso's, Rupee, Rupiah, and many other currencies are on the rise, as the dollar slides. What is our Government doing about this today? What can be done for tomorrow? These are questions that are being discussed at this time in Washington as they ponder a new rate increase possibility. What will this do to the U.S. Economy? The big question is what will other countries do if this continues on?

There is a rising concern with inflation throughout the planet as other countries position themselves and take shelter from this storm. The oil rich states consider turning their backs on the greenback and peg their currency to a basket of various other currencies and not rely solely on the dollar. Without an action such as this they may find it difficult to curb inflation in their economies. This action will create a more flexible interest rate policy, but it may not be good for the greenback paper currency status as the world's reserve currency.

Since the Bretton Woods agreement in 1944, the dollar became the predominant world reserve currency replacing the British Pound. At that point in time the U.S. had a huge amount of physical gold, and a huge amount of political clout and military might, which it displayed in World War II. Impressed, the world accepted our dollar at a value of 1/35th of an ounce of gold as the world’s new reserve currency. This is where the saying that the dollar was “as good as gold,” came in. It was convertible to all foreign central banks at that rate. However, for American citizens, it remained illegal to own. This was a gold-exchange standard that was doomed to fail from its inception.

The U.S. did exactly what many predicted she would do, just as in the past of Kings and Ceasars. The saying goes that history repeats itself. The U.S. printed more dollars for which there was no gold backing. Since it is paper, and easy to print, that became the easy out. But the world was content to accept those dollars for more than 25 years with little question-- until the French and others in the late 1960s demanded we fulfill our promise to pay one ounce of gold for each $35 they delivered to the U.S. Treasury. Economically, this should be true. If any commoner were to borrow from a bank, their loans need be paid back. There are very serious circumstances if this action does not happen such as bankruptcy, lawsuits, and more. This is simply what the French were looking for. We have always been a society that spends more than it earns, so we “make” more. This resulted in a huge gold drain that brought an end to a very poorly devised pseudo-gold standard. This all ended with Richard Nixon on August 15, 1971, when he closed the gold window and refused to pay out any of our remaining 280 million ounces of gold. In essence, we declared our insolvency and everyone recognized some other monetary system had to be devised in order to bring stability to the markets. There has been no resolution to this date.

Which brings us to a quote by George Bernard Shaw:

"You have to choose [as a voter] between trusting to the natural stability of gold and the natural stability of the honesty and intelligence of the members of the Government. And, with due respect for these gentlemen, I advise you, as long as the Capitalist system lasts, to vote for gold."

Iceland Pioneers a Country of Clean Energy

In 1874 the science fiction writer Jules Verne envisaged a world in which water would replace coal as the fuel of the future. Now the Icelanders believe they can turn that dream into reality within a generation - and they are taking the first steps next year in their project to create the world's first hydrogen society.

Iceland has already gone further than any other country in exploiting its abundant sources of renewable energy. Virtually all of its electricity and heating comes from hydroelectric power and the geo-thermal water reserves tapped from the hot rock layers lying just beneath the surface of this extraordinary island. But with no fossil fuel resources of its own, the country relies on imported oil to power all its cars, buses and fishing trawlers, which provide 70% of its income.

Despite its natural advantages, the small population (around 270,000 people) produces more greenhouse gas emissions per head than any other country. Iceland hopes to power its trawler fleet with hydrogen. So Iceland's next energy revolution will be based on converting its own renewable energy into a form that can power its own transport system, slashing those emissions and ending its dependence on fossil fuels completely.

The key to this change is the technology of fuel cells, in which electricity to power an engine can be generated by hydrogen and oxygen, with vehicle exhausts emitting only the most innocuous substance imaginable - water.

But producing the hydrogen economically without creating more pollution in the process is one of the stumbling blocks in turning fuel cells into a genuinely clean alternative, and this is where Iceland believes it has a head start. It's about being independent and relying on ourselves to continue the way we live

The pioneer of the hydrogen society concept is Professor Bragi Arnason of the University of Iceland in Reykjavik - who has now earned himself the nickname "Professor Hydrogen". He first put forward the idea of basing Iceland's economy on home-produced hydrogen back in the 1970s, and admits that at the time, people thought he was crazy. But politicians started to take a different attitude once major corporations started to visit his laboratories to hear more about his ideas.

The idea at the heart of the project is that Iceland can use its pollution-free, cheap electricity to "split" water into its component parts of hydrogen and oxygen through the process of electrolysis, something it has already been doing for nearly 50 years at a plant producing ammonia for fertilisers.

"Many experts say that in 20 or 30 years, solar energy could be harnessed in an economic way and turned into electric energy," Professor Arnason said. "In Iceland we don't have to wait for solar energy to become economic because we have this cheap hydropower and geothermal energy. We can start now."

Iceland already harnesses the geo-thermal energy with the creation of a hydrogen economy now official government policy, the first concrete step will be the arrival of the first emission-free fuel cell buses on Reykjavik's streets. The idea is eventually to replace the capital's entire 80-strong fleet. They will be fueled at a new filling station being built on the outskirts of the city by Shell, one of three major corporations putting money into the project. The hydrogen to power the buses will be produced on site, using clean electricity from the grid to split water.

Spirit of independence

The next stage will be the conversion of private cars on the island. Iceland's experts are also looking at the practicality of switching the huge trawlers that tie up at Reykjavik's fishing harbour to hydrogen power. My grandchildren, when they are grown up, will live in this new economy where Iceland will be totally independent of imported energy

The project director of Iceland New Energy, Maria Maack, said: "We are so reliant on our fisheries, and the fisheries are totally dependent on oil. So we have a chance to be quite independent of this. It's not about the environment so much, it's about being independent and relying on ourselves to continue the way we live."

That spirit of independence has already taken Iceland through two great energy revolutions in the past century. First, it exploited its vast hydroelectric potential to make electricity from the start of the 20th Century, and then in the 1940s it tapped the geothermal water supplies which now provide all of Reykjavik's heating needs and about 10% of the country's electricity.

Professpr Arnason believes the third revolution is within sight. "People my age will see the first steps towards the hydrogen economy. My children will watch the whole transformation," he predicted.

"My grandchildren, when they are grown, will live in this new economy where Iceland will be totally independent of imported energy, and where all the energy in the country comes from clean renewables."


By BBC environment correspondent Tim Hirsch

The countdown begins...

It is now December and the countdown to the Christmas holiday is here. There are messages everywhere begging for your hard earned dollars. The request to spend and charge and spend more. They remind us that if there is no money in the till, then bring out the credit. If that's what it takes to keep the wheels of our country turning...

I find that the negative growth fears permeating our society were self fulfilling. I will not say that they were unfounded. There are reasons to be aware and concerned. The press began to express the concern long ago helping to inaugurate a fear based mentality to various aspects of our economic society that I feel did not need to take the hits that are happening. The unemployment numbers were low, the overall economy was rather healthy excepting a few items in its menu, but the press kept pressing on.

As other "experts" jumped into the fray for their 15 minutes more and more people became fearful of their situation, and perhaps many did so without necessity. With people beginning to hear and fear the news and the trail of tears they spewed more and more jumped into the fear based bandwagon. All of this began to snowball and within a few months the economy went to hell in a hand basket.

Yes, there are and will be foreclosures. This happens in every market, all of the time. Yes, we have more than normal, although when one listens to the news today, it seems the way they portray the situation in the press is that 8 out of 10 homes will be foreclosed on. On a national scale the foreclosure rate is at 1 for every 555 homes. Although this number is up substantially than normal and is up more in some areas than other nationally, it still is not the percentage that can crush an economy. Te aftermath of a fear based economic system can and reckless charging can.

It began something like this. All of the turmoil in the subprime market has come about due to a pretty simple reason that being an inordinate number of recent home buyers will begin or have been defaulting on their mortgages. Much of this reason is due to the fact that most of these are the folks who historically have not been home owners due to their debt obligations, low income, and/or poor credit. In the past, they were known as renters.

The ultra-low rates that previous market guru Alan Greenspan put into place when he dropped the Fed Funds to 1% started an entire chain reaction of events. At the time he was lauded by many as the high priest of finance. Now, he is being touted as the creator of the doomsday effect. If high rates keep home prices down, well you can guess what ultra-low rates do. Home prices rose due to more people being able to enter the market and buy homes due to the lower monthly carrying costs, and we were off to the races. This brought out bidding wars and price increases not seen in our lifetime, or any other for that matter, in most areas throughout the United States.

This boom begat a feeding frenzy. Generally, what happens next and did is the corruption that soon followed. The financial institutions created products never seen before in the business of 110% financing or 40-50 year fixed rate mortgages. No Doc, Stated Income, Pic-A-Pay loans, and more offered borrowers numerous products to get into a home or investment. The appraisers jumped in and faked values to get loans approved (making a 100% LTV look like a 80%) for the financial institutions. Banks and mortgage brokers quickly learned how to get nearly anyone approved. There are reasons for these loans and a good purpose if used rightly. Those being Interest only ARMs, LIBOR based, etc. However, if these were used by borrowers without Real Estate experience, and many were, and advised to do so by Realtors, Brokers, the press and more. What happened was that they got people into homes THEY COULD NOT AFFORD.

Then, when the fear began and prices stopped rising the rates ticked up. Soon people could no longer bootstrap paying their mortgages by taking out more home equity loans, the foreclosure rates began to rise.

All of this is self perpetuating. Again, not unfounded, although, there was no slowdown, but a halt. There is only a small number of people in the broad scheme of things that will be going down the path of property foreclosure. The banking industry should be held responsible for their part in handing out so many loans using a products basis which holds no financial weight. Why would a bank issue a note for 1% teaser interest to someone who will not be able to afford this payment when it comes time to roll int into it's conventional financing? The tax breaks that these institutions will receive will help cover their losses, this is simply the process of doing business in a free market society. Although the market will and has fallen substantially for their mishaps and miscalculations. The irresponsibility of the financial institutions should be held liable.

As all of these circumstances are different there is still room for liability for all various parties involved. If a mortgage broker gave out a difficult to understand teaser loan to a bad credit or first time home buyers with no experience there should be some repercussion's on their end for these actions. If a property owner with a history of real estate experience purchased a property that is going to have them fall into the abyss due to the loan they received, or because they purchased too many homes in the past few years using these loan techniques and are now needing to pay the piper, they too should be held liable for their mishaps and misfortunes. In situations such as this, their credit history will prove their prior experience.

The challenge is to stave off the market in the meantime, while these parties involved weed through their situations.

More on Green Roofs...

I thought I might add a bit more on the Green roofing ideas. But, I will give some links for you to do your own research on this that I found quite good.

Green Roof Resource

Time for Green Roofs by Elisabeth Rosenthal. She is a writer at the Herald Tribune.

Why aren't there more Green Roofs? by Libby Rosenthal. The same writer as above.

I am happy that we are including Green Roofs in our development project going on near Austin, TX. Our designs utilizing this were originally to assist in our septic system design, but as the main developer moves forward with a city sewer connection we can bypass the septic needs. We will keep the Green roof in the design as the lots are small and we will create a great roof garden that will have amazing lake and golf course views. We make it quite a showpiece in the development! We have a few lots that will have this concept with similar views, but one will be right on the top of a hill.

Living Roof technology

Contrary to some popular beliefs, green - or living roofs are not too heavy or expensive. An engineer can design a roof structure for nearly any environment. There is not as much weight for these as most think as various technologies to implement these roofs have come a long way. The average extensive (thin commercial) living roof is 18-24 pounds per square foot fully saturated, well below the live weight loads of most American roofs. The price ranges from six to fifteen dollars per foot installed depending on access to the roof.

A living roof can double or triple the life of the roof membrane. The cost of a roof membrane is approximately seventeen dollars a foot so clearly the living roof pays for itself in extending the life of the membrane itself. Then there are the energy savings. As much as 25% on heating and cooling on a two story building. With the cost of heating bills continually rising this can become a major addition to a cost cutting opportunity to your building.

In the NY area we found a company, Greener Designs that built the living roof at Silvercup Studios in NYC (30,000 square feet) and they are reporting noticeable heating and cooling savings two years later.

Living roofs up to approx. 45º are a normal occurrence in countries like Spain. They use a plant called ’sedum’ not growing more than 8 centimeter high in trays 60X60 cms with an intelligent micro-irrigation system. That area receives approx. four to six months of beautiful white or pink flowers in the roof. No problem with humidity due to a special treatment of surface and maximum isolation. Living roofs in areas around 30º are perfect to integrate efficient and visually solar panels. Thermic diode solar panels don't produce electricity and photovoltaic are a 12 V. system. In general there is no specific problem to date with electrical fittings open air.

Living roofing is a wonderful scenario and something that we are working with in some of our development projects we have in TX and CA. We are integrating living roof ideas to add livable square foot usage to footprint homes that can then utilize some other optional areas since the lot sizes are minimal. These rooftop gardens offer the homeowner the land use they deserve and pay so much for. Also, we are using living roof designs to offset leach field space necessary for septic systems in outlying areas on small lot projects. Using the rooftop to help with an aerobic septic system we have been able to control the waste water and return it to grey water to be used for the plant irrigation watering systems on the property.

There are numerous and creative ways and usage designs that are coming out today. We should all think more strategically and ecologically in our future developments and renovations to create ways to give back and maintain our water, material, utility, and mineral usage of our planet.

The calm before the storm...

We must prepare ourselves as we come into this new realm of financial re-structuring and rebounding for our woes over these past 10 years in the global economy. Some say we’re all about to pay for the housing boom bust. See our previous entry Your Cup Runneth Over on how to handle this present and upcoming economic phase.

As the housing boom grew real estate agents, lenders, and members of the media hyped houses as if they were stocks. Numerous investors bought Pre-Construction deals only to sell out of their purchase option before the construction was even completed for a profit in places like AZ, Vegas, and FL. Some of this drive up was from the largest and richest demographic in our human history that began to prepare for their retirement. People were buying second homes and vacation homes in record pace as many homeowners came to believe they had an ATM in their paperwork or their own living room. They could use their living room to refinance and to buy their next home or down payment.

They found they could withdraw from the Bank of John Q. A house appreciating $100,000 could easily provide $60,000 through refinancing or in mortgage equity. Thus multitudes of people went out and borrowed in 2001 through 2005, more than $1 trillion. Lucky for them at the time, there was no end to the number and variety of nontraditional mortgages flourishing, the most popular being subprime adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs). Now, don't get me wrong, there were many that had a rhyme and a reason to this type of action. There were those that were using this loan vehicle for investment rental homes, offsetting a great rate for a no money down purchase to offset their carrying costs for the first few years before they would catch up. There were also those repairing or renovating which used some of their appreciated capital for improvements to add even more value to their home rather than simple appreciation. However, leaving the upgraded nest egg on the table to offset this action is a more advantageous action. Borrowing against your local general appreciation with no other upside potential is where things began to get dicey for many.

Millions of people were buying in 2001-2005 with no little to no money down, and no work to do on the home as many of these were new structures yet continued to pull money out as they went. Now the monthly payments on about $600 billion subprime mortgages are increasing by as much as 50 percent because the two-year teaser periods are up. As we’ve seen after the last couple of months of the subprime situation, many of the recipients of these loans aren’t able to make their payments, or balloon payments so loans are defaulting and mortgage lenders are declaring bankruptcy. Now with them failing, and not only is the U.S. market suffering, but so are markets around the world. Some of the other markets in Europe have experienced housing appreciation and growth that makes the United States market gains look relatively small. The end is certainly near, and soon we will find that we won’t be able to refinance ourselves out of our problems.

We all must prepare and re-strategize our personal finances as money problems are just around the corner for practically everyone. This will be a good thing for everyone. We appear to have reached the end of the biggest bubble of debt and credit in history. This is not to say that there is still a large demographic, the baby boomers, that have made and structured plans for years that many are still on target with which will aid in keeping some of the markets going. Although, at this very moment, the public markets are teetering on the brink of a major change of direction. Five hundred trillion dollars in derivatives are on the edge and ready to explode. Fifteen trillion dollars in worldwide stock-market capitalization, if we do not pay attention, could disappear. The average American house could lose 20 to 40 percent of its value as, as many as five million families are forced into bankruptcy. Practically everyone is in debt. Much of this debt is home debt, which for all intense and purposes is considered "good debt", but this is also compounded with credit card debt. If you can't pay your bills there is no such thing as good debt or bad debt. Debt that is stuffed into hedge fund portfolios as an investment, debt that is laid away at insurance companies and pension funds as an asset, and debt that is traded, extended, and wrung out. It is debt for all seasons, all people, all times, and all places. All of our previous excess is bound to catch up with us.

Over the next few years, many people are going to be ruined; fortunes will be wiped out. However, as Enron fell, Google rose. As there are some that fall, new groups of people will acquire wealth and power, while some of today’s economic elites will be destroyed. But with a new understanding and diligence, we can avoid being a victim of history. We can be among the few whose investments go up when the great mass of people lose money. As a result, you will not only be able to safeguard your wealth, you will enhance your well-being and save your sanity.

Your Cup Runneth Over

WHY SOME PEOPLE HAVE IT ALL

How many times have you met people who seem to have "it all" and yet, all they do is complain about how bad they have it? Then there are others who in spite of having to cope with unusually difficult challenges see themselves as fortunate and even blessed. I think this goes further than simply letting a smile be your umbrella. Rather it's the deeper perspective they hold for themselves and the world around them that colors every event and interaction of their daily lives. For those who see the glass as half-full, the voice is a friendly one. However, wouldn't it be great if those who live in a world of half-empty glasses could change their perspective to bring more joy and satisfaction to their lives?

HEARING THE VOICE IN YOUR HEAD

All of us have constant and highly dictatorial voices in our heads that we are so used to hearing that we believe them to be real and wise. This voice is very much in control of many of your actions, much of what you think, what you will and won't say. The inner voice constantly frets about the future... it chatters away about its worries concerning life, people and how things will go. And it seems to us that the voice is just being smart by warning of danger and by being protective from all of the bad people and events in the world or is being smartly speculative... we think it's completely rational, understanding, even brilliant, especially in a world filled with terrorism, natural disasters and economic uncertainty.

WHAT YOU SAY IS WHAT YOU GET

The problem is that the explanations that our inner voices provide about events in the past and predictions for the future leave us stuck with low expectations and a sense of resignation. This voice's confident assessment of future reality may thus lead you to lock yourself into patterns of behaviors in small ways and large ones. For example, you might refuse to go out to dinner with your spouse because "we always argue when we go out to dinner" or "we never have anything to talk about so it's not fun." Another possibility is that you may live with chronic, low-level melancholia because your life never seems to work out the way you would like.

Your voice is really telling you the story of your life -- the reason it is the way it is, why you are the way you are, and who you can blame." Listen carefully, to hear how it drones on in a constant state of sameness and how its themes become the themes of your life. By listening to and following the guidelines of these inner voices, people get exactly what they expect from their lives -- dissatisfaction. But no one really wants to be unhappy in life,we'd all prefer to be happy and fulfilled.

THOUGHTS CAN BE CHANGED

The good news is thoughts can be changed. They can be denied, laughed at and even eliminated -- and you can bring your inner voice in line to harmonize with what you want for your life. You must learn to understand what it is saying and how that affects what you do... what you believe... and who you are.

The point is you are not your inner voice. You are a person who actually has a choice whether or not to listen to your inner voice. Your voice may tell you "you'll never do that"... or "you can't succeed"... when you're considering a new job. Or, it may make excuses that sound more like "I don't have time," "I can't take a class that's so far away" or "my spouse would never let me spend money on that." Beneath those excuses, however, is the real message: "I'm scared to ask for what I want and go for it." The voice may seem like it is keeping you safe, helping you avoid rejection or keeping you from getting hurt... but it is really just holding you back.

With such discouragement coming at you all day, is it any wonder you can't muster a productive attitude and therefore end up perceiving your life as lacking? Be aware that wherever in your life you lack satisfaction, the voice is probably running rampant. Its many versions keep you the innocent victim with a no-fault policy. This, however, is exactly what stops you from believing in yourself. Regardless of how much you have, there is always what you still want. If you're not moving toward getting there, you may well be listening to your own drama or resignation that explains why you can't.

CHANGING THE MESSAGE

And so the first step in revising the messages is to discover exactly what they contain. Here's how to do that: For a week or two or maybe even a month, keep a "thought log" detailing the comments you make in your head. This teaches you to hear how your voice talks to you -- about you, about others, about your body and the events of your day. Get to know this voice and really hear the dialogue that plays endlessly in your head. List the excuses ("no time" or "no money," for instance). The point is to become so present to your themes that at last you can see where you have been dwelling. What you discover doesn't have to make sense initially, but if you approach this exercise with humor you can enjoy discovering your hidden influences. This practice begins to separate you from your inner voice.

The next step is to identify your themes. Give them nicknames -- are you a sourpuss, always looking to the bleak side? A know-it-all martyr, endlessly doing for others and never for yourself? Perhaps you are a mean saint or a better-than-everyone-else Goodie Two Shoes. Probably your voice has several themes and this is your opportunity to discover them all.

A NEW VOICE

The most challenging task follows -- putting into practice the commitment to changing your thoughts. Having exposed them and interpreted their themes and messages, the odds are that you've realized these are not the themes you want to be living with. By taking charge of your thoughts you can take charge of your life.

Make rules that help you accomplish this. For instance, you might make a rule that you don't allow yourself to make snide remarks to yourself about people you see on the street. Another one: Your internal voice is not allowed to tell you that life is short-changing you... and it is never, ever to announce negative conclusions about anything you are facing. To be effective, these rules demand vigilance, diligence and discipline -- otherwise your life will slip back to being what it was.

LEARNING TO LAUGH AT YOURSELF IS A MAJOR STEP

No doubt you will find that much of what your voice says concerns others in your life, since your inner voice is practiced at coming to conclusions about what others think, including about you. Your inner voice is really a lot like a bad journalist -- reporting what it decides is true without bothering to check the facts. Challenge yourself to do the research by asking the other person or people for their input about what troubles you. It calls for personal courage, but it can be done with honor and respect. When you "hear" such a fear or concern three times, ask questions. Start by saying something like, I'm saying this stuff to myself and I think you could clarify it for me... since it is about you and I want to know if I am nuts or not.

When walking down the street, remind yourself to love people, not pick on them. Assigns light consequences to yourself if you starts to fret, replacing worries with positive thoughts. "This is the most important work you can do. "It's like building the muscle of the mind. If your thoughts run you and you don't manage them it is a bit like allowing your child to watch television all the time. We know how that turns out -- inconsistent and most likely unhealthy."

Once you introduce yourself to the storyteller inside your head, you can start working at last on the life and relationships your true self has long hoped to have. With effort, your cup may indeed begin to run over.

Full steam ahead, I say!

Utility companies of the US, as well as those in the other parts of the world, have a pressing need to supply power to the ever growing population of energy starved consumers. Through our endless need of this precious commodity to power our home appliances, home computers, laptops, PDA's, iPods, iPhones, cell phones, home theater systems, televisions, air purifiers, wine fridges and more, we are consuming more and more power at the same time we are needing to either cut back or find a new means of power supply if we are to be enjoying this glorious planet of ours much longer. This has nothing to say with respect to the world we intend to hand down to our future generations.

Due to this there is a growing concern through both public and political pressures for using renewable energy sources. With our newest addition to the expanding economic populous and ever growing consumer base of China we find they commission a new coal-fired plant every 5 days. Yet in the US there has not been a new coal-fired power plant permitted in about a year. Although, keeping in mind that there are currently numerous on the agenda in various parts of the United States. But, over time in North America, are the older systems to begin fading away? The real question is, what will take their place?

Our public perception of renewable energy systems at this time seems to be limited to windmills covering mountains with spinning props. There is an expectation of solar panels mounted over rooftops in search of the sun. But these are both intermittent sources of energy production as only some of the time does the wind blow. The other part of the equation is that there is night time, thus the sun doth not shine. Things are quite different with geothermal power, which has demonstrated the ability to not only meet base load power requirements, but can be done without the much of the visible pollution numerous naysayers have in their complaint arsenal. Geothermal offers the prospect of heat energy from the depths of the earth. This happens without pause 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. The fuel is, for all intense and purposes, “free.” That is to say that we are expecting that the heat energy of the earth will last for at least another billion odd years.

The Swiss have been producing steam since 1872. Through war time, peace times, night time, day time, calm days and windy days. To make a point, one must consider what is not around a geothermal plant. There are no train lines to haul coal, there is no mine necessary to get the coal to put on the train. There is no mountain top that needs to be removed to get the unnecessary coal to put on the unnecessary train. There is no diesel necessary for the unneeded bulldozers that do not need to get the unneeded coal to put on an unneeded train line. There are no rivers spoiled with the waste and runoff, and no carbon dioxide that is spewing from stacks. Cleaner air, cleaner land, cleaner water. What a concept.

To put it to scale, geothermal energy would dramatically change the entire equation of energy consumption and waste in our culture. As fossil-fired infrastructure from decades past has reached the end of its planned service life, geothermal offers a new way forward. Now is our time to act. We must make a choice for a better future and our time is now. I must add that we should not eliminate our desire and need for wind and solar, and even nuclear power, but we should add more to our satchel of various utilities to choose from that are even better overall for our environment.

Are we not a people that take on challenges? Do we not forge ahead through all types of diversity? An obstacle is simply a challenge, as something that needs a solution to be found. There are no mountains too tall to climb, as we have Mt. Everest conquered every year by many. We have gone to the Moon, Mars, Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto, and “X”. We have sent objects beyond our solar system. We have cured ills, Pasteurization, x-rays, Cat scans, penicillin . We have split the atom. We create to the billionth of a millimeter. I think we are ready to tackle this new technology.

Contact your Senator or Congressperson to show your support of this new and emerging technology. You can purchase your utilities from green suppliers and contact them regarding this new option. When we get these utility companies to purchase more of this type of power our pricing can go down, our air can be clearer, our lakes and rivers will be cleaner.

Full steam ahead, I say!

The Dollar vs. the Euro?

I was talking with a friend last night and she had mentioned that she was told that the dollar is going to merge with the Euro. I wanted to laugh, as I have not heard anything like that previously, as well as the fact that the dollar is still much too entrenched into the global economy and the primary peg for global valuation. But, perhaps she knew something I didn't.

There are numerous currencies that do peg themselves to the Euro, such as the Denmark DKR, and others. If you were to compare supermarket prices in Denmark and in the USA, and remove sales taxes and VAT, the real value of the dollar in a supermarket is about 56-60 eurocents. Today the exchange rate is about 68 eurocents to a dollar. If you look at IKEA which is both in Europe and the USA and make the same comparison, IKEA values 1 dollar to 52 eurocents. I think the dollar is going through a “controlled” gradual devaluation.

Without going into any conspiracy theories and such, this current global economic condition we are seeing could be construed as a very controlled means of a trade re-balance. There are numerous countries in the far east that are invested heavily in dollars, though we find their exports and labor force increasing in strength, which is a good thing for them, although this puts a load on the dollar. In order to bring this back to the "new normal" there must be an imbalance for the market to restructure itself. Whether this is created or the natural process of our time, eventually the global trade markets will find themselves in synch again. However, in the mean time we will be going through this re-balance of economy.

Another point would be the FED and the ECB (European Central Bank) both have a common interest in the project. The FED can in that way lose a good deal of the American foreign debt, and the ECB can assist the Euro to be a new international reserve valuator. At the same time, the EU has only a small part of the dollar reserves, so their losses will be relatively small. That’s why the ECB keeps up the rates, while the FED lowers their rates.

The United States must make note, that the USA is not the largest economy in the world. In 2006 the US GDP was 13.000 billion USD, and the GDP in the EU15 11.400 billion €. With today's exchange rate that is 16.764 billion USD, or about 29% larger than the US GDP. Maybe that’s the reason for the shift in reserve valuation.

With a foreign debt of 60% of GDP and large internal public and private debt and a negative private saving rate (-2% in 2006) the US economy is in a relatively bad shape, and on top of that is the crude oil prices and the sub-prime crisis. So it is not likely, that the dollar will re-valuate in the short run.

In the long term the dollar will fall relative to certain currencies. China and India are growing in economic stature, by as much as 9%-10% growth rates, and as a result will probably have a stronger currency on a relative basis. As the oil prices increase, perhaps mainly due to the new crude appetite of these emerging economies, the U.S. should step back and begin to realize that it may not have any relation to them whatsoever. Or at least somewhat...As the Middle Eastern oil families see their massive investments and economic projections in the United States lose value, as the dollar slides they simply offset their balance sheet by raising their rates. That is simple economics and has nothing to do with war or religion. As they raise their rates they also are enjoying their new far east customers. Between the oil conglomerates of Russia and the Middle East these emerging economies will soon become their largest consumer. It is estimated by some that China will outpace the U.S. in oil imports by this next years end.

Then, without trying to confuse the issue, you have to keep in mind of how things like the trade deficit are measured. It measures dollars per sale rather than profits. For an example, Apple will bring in more of a profit line item for an iPod, or iPhone than the overseas manufacturers of all of its components. They will then put those profits in R&D (which is normally marked as consumption in stats), which in turn then again yields more profits over time.

While it is no secret that the Euro has been the disproportionate beneficiary of the global over valuation of the dollar. The same cannot be said of the Asian currencies who continue largely to peg their currencies to ours. There is also the other issue of the Middle East region who peg their oil futures to the dollar. We will get into that on another day as this is a bigger issue for our time than the Euro spread.

The question is how and where the inevitable inflation that we are creating through our accumulation of massive internal and foreign debt will play out. Devaluation is always in the interest of foreign debtor nations. "Our currency, your problem," as Nixon once said. But, with that said and in order to complete the economic cycle, will the wave of inflation also be exported? It does seems to be happening in China already. There is certainly a housing and mortgage situation happening in the Euro countries as well.

The housing appreciation bubbles in Ireland, France, and England in the past five years, as an example, have shown more of a dramatic increase in housing prices that those that the United States has encountered. We are now seeing a very dramatic slowdown in their Real Estate markets as well. With the Northern Rock fiasco their lending scene has hit the skids and pulled back. The PTI (Principle, Taxes and Insurance) ratio to income in many European areas is much more drastic than the U.S. creating a home affordability gap in some of the Euro markets to be much more pronounced. The unemployment in some of those same areas is measureably higher than the U.S. as well.

While the U.S. has debt, and too much in my opinion, there are many others countries with far more relative to their GDP. In the U.S. there is approx. $54 trillion in household wealth (stock holdings, home equity etc...), which, all in all, makes the overall U.S. balance sheet look pretty good. Although, we do need to teach our consumers how to save and invest rather than acquire credit card debt.

As we add into the mix the lowering of interest rates, which drag on the dollar too. I'm certainly not going to say the dollar is "undervalued", but I do not see the fall in value as a sign of the end of the dollar either.

New energies from old beings and global warming

We at Boggs Development Group are interested in some new business models for global warming solutions, and fuel alternative sciences. There are a few ideas "floating" out there and some others that are "bubbling up" that show high interest to us.

The science that if one were to spread iron filings that float across the oceans, the idea goes, that this process will promote algae growth. The algae forms and attaches itself to the iron filings, just as a sunken ship that eventually grows coral and algae communities around it. Algae then, by concentrated volume absorbs carbon dioxide. The algae does eventually die and will then sink to the bottom of the ocean. This was verified and studied over a decade ago in the Southern Ocean and suggests that the underlying ideas behind the science are sound. Since then, there have been studies that show an algae pack holds a far denser punch energy wise than the plants now used as energy crops. In fact, they produce oils of the kind valued as biodiesel and are a good replacement for mineral oils. Harvesting these little creatures is a bit of a challenge, but can be done more easily in controlled environments.

We have found a company, Planktos Inc., that is "planting" these iron particles across the ocean. It is their idea that by the institution of CO2 credits, through their business model, they will be able to sell off their CO2 credits to other companies that need them to help offset their old or fossilized business models. We find this is a win win for science and business as these fossil fuel manufacturing companies make transitional phases to their plants and processes.

It was shown in a recent conference in Oxford that an area the size of the North Sea could yield enough biodiesel to replace fossil fuels used in transportation today. If science can find ways to harvest these millimeter or less sized CO2 eating beings in an economical way biofuel aquaculture would be as green as you could get.

There is also new fields in geothermal energies that are showing promise. There is a new California Senate Bill #107 that will force California to produce 20% of its power from alternative energy sources by 2010 and to reach 33% by 2020. Geothermal energy needs no land mass to create power plants. It needs no fossil fuels or uranium to generate and distribute its product. Its waste byproduct is steam. Nice.

You see, there are numerous ways for us to power our lives on this planet that require little to no petroleum based products. This will help eliminate our foreign dependence on a very historically unstable political region. These new sciences can bring new jobs and economies of scale that will be likened to those of the early industrial age and the beginnings of the computer age.

There is promise and solutions out there. If we work with these other live beings, we call algae, we can work together to keep our planet healthy and prosperous.

Response to comments:

We thank those of you who have commented on our blog. Keep it coming as this is the perfect open forum for public discourse and community discussion.

For you who commented on Nov. 15th -
Global Warming Responsibility

There are green projects currently going in, although our firm has not yet begun the projects that we are to be undertaking. You can stay abreast via our company website at http://www.bdgroupllc.com or our email there, or the Blog will be releasing that information when the time is there.

Michelle from Nov. 16th -
Dog Dogma For Freedom

Only time will tell as to our benefit of another great orator and social leader. Is there faith from those of you out there in someone now that will fill those shoes? We, here, would love to know who.

Anonymous from Oct. 29th -
Dealing in Todays Market - Bay Area

Check back as our blogs deal with numerous areas around the United States. We will do year end or New Year projections and such as well, so stay tuned.

What is right and what is not right...

“The man who, knowing the right, fails to do it, loses the power to know what is right; and the man who, having the power to do right, is unwilling, loses the power to do what he wills.” St. Augustine, De Libero Arbitrio

We have had responses regarding setting a political tone to our Blog. We, our writing staff, don't feel as if we are holding a political tone one way or another to any political party. If there are responses to counter anything we have to say we welcome comments as this is a perfect forum to do just that.

With the St. Augustine quote it should be noted that we stand behind our convictions. As human beings, our views are created through the actions and reactions we receive through the lives and circumstances we encounter. This is what life is about. How we deal with and handle those circumstances and lives we encounter, in relation to the words of St. Augustine, is what we hold true as to our character.

Our firm, Boggs Development Group, has chosen to build Eco-Green efficient homes due to our knowledge of the amount of construction waste in the building business, the typical energetic waste in a less efficient structure, the stress being instilled on our planet due to the energy needs of less efficient buildings, the overall longterm financial gains a more efficient home holds for the homeowner (as well as our society), the quality of health and life the homeowner benefits from by having these better houses, and the fact that there is less overall maintenance, great insurance and tax advantages...do we need to go on?

When we all feel we know that something is the right thing to do, should we, and do we not move forward and do that? By doing what we feel is right the overall benefits will be felt throughout our lives and society in the long run.

If there are opinions that differ, and knowledge that is counter to what we are doing here at Boggs Development Group, we encourage a discourse in order to enlighten us all so that we can all learn from each other and make the world and our lives better and brighter.

With this said, our title for this entry as "what is right and what is not right..." is simply to show that "right" is also a relative term. Obviously there are opposing views to anything. There are some that feel that the human experience is not a participatory factor in the escalating global CO2 problem and some that do, there are some that feel that democracy and capitalism are not the overall socially benefiting means of political and economic policy and some that do, there are some that feel that our drinking water, or mercury levels, or childhood vaccines do not have direct relation to childhood autism and some that do.

This is where the power of freedom of thought in the human experience shines. If we partake in the public discourse and allow people to research, feel and express themselves openly and honestly we, as a society, can reach a higher level of interaction with each other. We will all reach a higher level of knowledge and decision making power.

Education has as one of its fundamental aspects the imparting of culture from generation to generation. Education means 'to draw out', facilitating realization of self-potential and latent talents of an individual. As Mark Twain said "never let school interfere with your education", throughout life we learn and learn again as to what is right and what is not right...

Dog Dogma for freedom!

Philosopher, Simone Weil said that,"the idea of the dignity of labor is the only idea we have not borrowed from the ancient Greeks. But it is from such an idea that we can begin again to construct a notion of the labor of being and of a new form of participation."

Is Being found in labor? Is participation found in labor? Perhaps this is a modern and more civilized process of mass manipulation. As our societies of today strive to be "free" and "democratic" in nature, we also find that over time in this new revolution our "freedom" is quietly taken away through the manipulation of the trust of economic intrinsic value. Our trust that our participation is working towards a better future or reality for us as a participant. As our elected officials help to evolve our global economic strategies we find that our measured quality of life is reduced over time creating a necessity of labor, rather than the desire of it, for participation. This necessity rather than desire helps to slowly dissolve the inherent dignity Weil refers to. There is no such thing as a free lunch! The fact that the Greeks held labor for the slaves and not as a desired wish of the commoner is no different today than it was then. Only today we are, much of the time, able to choose how we wish to spend our labor hours slaving for our participatory cause. We are still slaves to the economic system to which has devalued itself over time, thus devaluing our participation in our modern society. This is where the "haves and have yachts" comes into effect.

Caryl Johnson's most recent blog entry, found at Mind Body Politic stated that "it is only the sheer weight of the so-called masses that provides the countervailing force against the giddy spin of this occult transgression of the mental elites. Whether the masses will in time gain the ability to think, and I mean along the lines that I am suggesting – thinking accompanied with thanking and ‘thinging’ — a new whole and fully participated thinking – on that the future of the world depends."

Well said. It is the mis and dis-information on a mass global scale, from the have yachts, that has left a paralysis to our conscious selves. It seems that the masses have lost the belief in themselves, and placed it into the elites. These same elites that slowly erode our quality of life we all strive so diligently to create.

Ghandi marched with quiet cause to show the masses that the masses do have force without the use of force. Martin Luther King marched to show the masses that the masses do have mass without the use of force. It starts with a dream. We can show the world there is mass participation in the common thread of desire for, what Caryl says as thinking, thanking and 'thinging'. It is apparent today that what is needed is the true belief that it all begins with a dream. Have we collectively stopped dreaming? First we must imagine it for it to be able to begin. Our have yachts know this, and successfully attain this continually. Yet through the combined manipulation of the distribution of fear and mis and dis-information their strangle hold helps keep their dream intact.

We must all realize that this existence, our own individual existence, is a reality of a dream of unlimited possibilities. We must believe in this before it is to be for us as individual participants. By participation in our own personal development of thought, and not that of dogma and the structured masses of Sunday Mass, or the daily dogma of social mass through the press, etc. will we become free to be a true participant in this cosmic twist called life.

Global warming responsibility

We are in a very delicate time for our planet. It has become a consensus of common knowledge that there is a global problem with CO2 emissions, and global warming. There are a variety of issues pertaining to this and not simply Big Oil. I do agree that Big Oil is a large player in this situation and must take responsibility for their part as well as their future part in this challenge. Although, we all must take individual responsibility for our own lives and how we use and abuse power and its waste. This problem we face, is a global problem. We, in the industrialized countries, must hold ourselves accountable before we continue to point to everyone else as the culprits, or to try to teach or tell the rising economies of China or India how to live. We each must help set an example for the world to learn by.

We must learn to live life differently and drive less, buy more local and organic farm products, plant trees through organizations to help offset our carbon footprints, drive more efficient and/or alternative fueled vehicles, build and remodel better and more efficient housing.

Housing is the largest end user global green house emitter. Between the building industry and the efficiency of housing we must keep in mind that with a growing planet population that continually needs more housing it is our responsibility to build and remodel housing to help eliminate the overall carbon footprint of the building industry on through to the home consumption and waste of energy.

Have and have Yachts!

Through the last six years our country has gone down a very dangerous financial path. (Actually, longer, but for ease let's just start there.) That of financial demise and a massive spreading of the distance between the "have's and have yachts"!

As a society we are certainly not poor by any global means, however, the earning capacity of the dollar for the hourly worker of today, based on inflation, is close to that of the early 1970's, but were in 2007! There has been no increase in living wage? This also means that the spending potential, based on inflation is reduced as well. Through the high cost of living, education, gasoline pricing, along with reduced benefits for working adults there seems to be a reduction in our quality of life. Can that really be maintained while we are continually wanting to purchase the lowest priced products from emerging global markets while keeping the people of our country employed? Can this happen?


If you believe in a world of plenty and not scarcity you will find your answer.

Previously, through the Clinton Administration, our feelings of prosperity were everywhere. That is not to say that we did not go further into debt as a country. We did get a budget balanced, however, we maintained a level of debt and continue to do so. (Only today it is much worse.) Due to this mis-information to our public by our government this was a time of celebration as tens of millions of people saw their savings and retirement plans reach plateaus they never thought possible before. Perhaps much of this came from the belief of abundance vs. scarcity.

Prior to the advent of the internet, in the late 80's early 90's, there was only a mere 10% of people that even had a stock holding portfolio. With the internet and online stock trading and investment information, various investment derivatives, mutual funds, and a high flying boom of IPO's and corporate spending throughout the 90's to today we have now been spoiled and left ill prepared.

Ill prepared by which I mean that we have never had an administration teach our country how to save. We have had, and continue to have, administrations that put programs together to aid in the proliferation of economic stagnation rather that education to teach the majority of our next generation the benefits of global economics and prosperity for all. In our basic public education system we don't even teach our children how to balance a checkbook, let alone, the basic principles of finance. It is suggested that the average person in our society is better left to work and trust the "experts" in how to spend or invest their money. yet, it is easier to make money in the stock market by throwing darts at the Wall Street Journal for stock, mutual fund, option, hedge fund, etc. picks than to listen to the experts.

If you believe in a world of plenty and not scarcity you will find your answer. Through this belief system one is able to see that it is not necessary to conduct a war to transact business, but that war is a business that is transacted. This distinction is primary to come to terms with our never ending defense budget spending. If you believe in a world of plenty and not scarcity you will find that answers lie in questions and not statements to countries. Understanding what the needs are of the other global participants rather than attempting to control the global masses. There is a common thread to all that reside on this planet despite all of our differences. That is that we all reside on this planet. With no other option, and our current means of survival is just that, survival, it is best to change our thinking. The time has come for a revolution of thought and not power.

Some say that if we were to stop spending only one of our years budget on defense in America we would be able to rebuild our schools, cure numerous diseases, revamp our elderly assistance programs, and develop new technologies for power. We would still have enough defense technology to destroy the earth over 1000 times. We would still have the largest fleet of air, water, and land technology to maintain the planet's police state. However, this one year would change the world by we could become the world leader in alternative fuels. Thereby infusing the development of alternative energies and technologies that could be packaged and distributed throughout the world. By maintaining and taking care of our people in our own country would allow us a greater opportunity to help others. I could go on, and will...

If you believe in a world of plenty and not scarcity you will find your answer.

Dealing in todays market - Bay Area

The San Francisco Bay area this time of year, on a clear sunny day, is like nothing else in the world. The crisp, clean air, great shops and restaurants, and house hunting schedules always give one something fun to do.

We know that there are some of the great deals to be had are in this area right now. If one has the means for a solid down payment, and the market they are in is fixers($300K-$400K), new condos($260K-$450K), or starter homes($400K-$600K) there are deals to be made. For the market in the higher end homes in the Bay Area($1M- )deals are not as plentiful as there is still a bit more buyer competition.. The U.S. economy has not been as difficult for the higher income earners over these past few years of decline. In fact, studies show, that the higher income demographic has shown a definitive increase in their earning and, subsequently, spending power. This makes the upper end home market still highly competitive.

In a slower real estate market, such as what we are experiencing in numerous areas around the United States at this time, it makes sense that the hardest hit economic demographic would be the lower end to mid level home market. These are the buyers that will be the first to be skittish, as well as, the borrowers with the lowest average FICO scores. With those buyers being more hesitant to enter the market, this creates a larger volume of inventory of homes. This will give the buyer the advantage creating a lower overall pricing for the homes for sale. With that said, homes that are new tend to sell at a bit higher pricing, as you get a better home for the same square foot appraisal value. Although awesome deals can be had for home buyers looking to do a little work. In a tighter market, if you can bring in a good down payment to the table, in an investment time such as this, it will help with the loan acquisition, loan rate, and bargaining power.

It is best to get Pre-qualified with a lender before one goes to the negotiating table. That way one is able to negotiate, and do the old "walk away". Realtors are having hard times right now, as well as loan agents. So, negotiation will be the power move to get you into your new home, for a great deal, now. Make sure that the loan agent tries to find a loan package that is best for you, the borrower, and not necessarily the best loan agent's commission.

Fires, Hurricanes, Tornados, OH MY

As we all watch San Diego, and other areas, in southern CA burn to the ground there seems to be a common thread of nerves that flow through everyone about their home and possible situations that could happen.

There are varied reasons why some of these properties, and areas, have burned. The zoning ordinances around those parts has been changing to accommodate the growing population and home buying demographic. People that choose to buy near forests for privacy and views must take precautions to their building and landscaping. Just as people living in tornado areas, or earthquake areas must think about the situations that may arise for them. In New Orleans, the levies broke. However, if people were to have built their homes in LA in a more elevated fashion perhaps we would have had less damage to that area.

Through the use of Thermal Insulated Concrete structures many of these natural disaster fears can be put at bay. It takes much more of mother nature to throw at these homes in order to do near the damage that we have recently seen in these extreme conditions.

Our thought is, why build a less efficient home, and pay more insurance for something that may not happen. When you can build a better, more efficient home in all respects, subsequently receive tax and insurance savings, and not have to worry about this kind of damage to your home.

If home is where the heart is we should all take better care of our hearts and homes! This can be done by building homes in a better way.

For more information visit our website at Boggs Development Group

Things change...

Things change to what we focus on. What we give attention to is where the energy of our efforts will gravitate towards and create.

If you did not read the newspapers to know the daily affairs of Britney or Bush, would life as YOU know it continue or halt? Is Britney an integral part of your life? Have you every met Bush or had dinner with him? Then does it behoove us all to pay such attention. If you didn't watch, or listen to the News would life as you know if continue?

One thing that has come to our attention is how damaging this dis-information is to our society and personal lives. By giving attention to that which we do not agree to, to not want, do not believe in, we empower that. Give attention ONLY to what it is you want.

In business it is best to focus on programs and systems that you and your company want and need to succeed. As energies are put into areas that need assistance in order to make them better performing we should focus our attentions on the things which we want out of these changes. By exerting energy to the things we want, and eliminating any thought and energy to the things we do not want anymore, we tend to focus more clearly and make it happen. What you focus on happens regardless. It's as simple as that.

Now, take that energetic and magnify it. This is what our government is good at, and they know it. To manipulate the public through mis or dis-information helps to create fear and uncertainty. Through this the escalation of more of this action creates a more powerful energy of fear and uncertainty until we have actually created it. I this what we need? What we all really didn't want?

If we are what we feel, as it has been said for eons, we must learn to feel better about who we are and what we want. Not who we aren't and what we DON'T want.

By focusing on creating better building for a better planet, like our firm does, we create a better home. We do not focus on creating this building because of the dire necessity due to global warming, we focus on the good it creates and the good it will manifest. By doing this, people will have a better living environment and create a better home life. By focusing on the good we can only create good.

Boggs Development Group, LLC

Eco Green Building

Silver Tsunami is here!

This is the name being applied to the deluge of retirees from the Baby Boomer generation to which officially began filing their Social Security benefits this past week. The first woman to file was born one second after midnight on January 1, 1946. She will receive her first check in February 2008. By retiring early, at age 62, she will be receiving 75% of the full benefit to which she would have received if she had waited and filed at age 66.

Some 80 Million persons will be applying for retirement benefits over the next 20 years. Under a law that was enacted in 1983 the retirement age was raised to 67 for full benefits, with early retirement beginning at 62. This program was used to help shore up the ailing pension plan. Despite this action, as the "silver Tsunami" begins to come into their age it appears that the Social Security Administration will be bankrupt, and paying out more money that it brings in in taxes, in the year 2017. The entire fund will be fully exhausted by the year 2041.

What does this mean? This means that the average American will continue to work more for less. This means that it will be imperative to become financially independent on your own. As history shows us, inflation is a direct result of a capitalistic means of economic structure. Therefore, it is suffice to say, that unless we change our global economic system the inflation process will continue. This is soon to become a necessity to do so without the aid of a college education. As colleges continue to increase their tuition costs, as well as, cost of living increases not matching the living wage increases, it seems that more people could be squeezed out of the collegiate life.

Don't fret on this though, it is widely known that there are more self made millionaires without a college education than with. There have been more millionaires made through real estate than through any other means. With that there is comfort in knowing on average Real Estate always goes up. On a basic 7 year cycle you will beat the average of wall street through real estate. On a buy and hold basis real estate comes out on top.

Take note, that no matter what type of economic situation our country is in, somewhere, there are places where deals are being made. This is the basis of economics. As one area weakens, another strengthens. These are the basics of physics, of for every action is a reaction. As it might just be your own home as your largest personal investment educate yourself to the possibilities of the marketplace. Protecting this investment, or the numerous rental or investment properties you might own, now is always the time to study and learn.

Location, Location, Location...

Even in these kind of times one can put on their thinker cap and find some great deals.

With the stock market back and flying high you need to think of those who have been relying on that as a means to build their economic backbone. What demographic has the largest amount of people in it? What demographic has the largest amount of expendable income or portfolio? Where do they wish to retire? What amenities do the wish to maintain? What type of housing do they wish to have?

These thoughts brought my investing to the southern belt seven years ago. I still maintain this philosophy and things are going well.

These states will be the first states to turn around in this overall stagnate real estate economy due to the basic affordability and the Fannie Mae funding cap levels. One is able to get a grand house in TX, MI, LA, and parts of Florida and Arizona. Now NM is beginning to expand with good opportunity.

It doesn't matter the economy overall, as there is always a deal somewhere. It just needs to be sought out. There are pockets of perfect deals somewhere. However, when the press is always telling the public that the national housing boom is slow, well, they are wrong. There is no such thing as a national housing market. Every market is localized and privy to each local economy. So simply do some research and find the pockets of local economies that are going well. They are out there. I guarantee it!!

I don't get it...

It seems that the economy is good. By that I mean, unemployment numbers are low, mortgage rates are still low, housing prices are low with a lot on the market, yet people are afraid to buy. This is a perfect buying scenario. Good money rates, good housing prices, plenty to choose from, yet people are nervous.

I think it is our press. We live in a society that thrives on news. Yet, when the news is delivered in a fashion that is strictly by the book, from their cube, and not by someone going out and getting into a community and asking a few questions, it gets dangerous. Our society has chosen to become a people that believe and trust something that is heard by the third time. By that I mean, the corporate news groups know that when they do a story on the upcoming recession, by the third time or rewrite there becomes a captive audience. This then grows and becomes it's own fodder through the grass roots level and compounds itself.

My philosophy is to get out and talk to people. Ask questions and try to get specific personal answers that help me reach a conclusion.

I know of a duplex in Oakland, CA where there is a good Section 8 tenant on top for $1800 and another unit below. Asking price is $599,000. I imagine that they might take $525,000. This could be positive cash flow right out the gate. But, it's been on the market for a while now as people "are afraid" to buy, because the news guy says so. How many properties does the news guy own, is my question? I alway get people telling me that the market is bad for investment properties right now because the loan industry has changed so much it makes things so difficult. I ask them how many rental properties they own to be able to rationally come to this conclusion, and the answer is none, but they are looking to get in.

Now is the time to get in. We may not ever have rates this low, with prices this competetive, with unemployment numbers this low, and GDP moving higher again in a while.

Fear based or reality based...

I have always stated that there is no such thing as a national real estate economy. I still believe this despite what seems to be happening throughout the United States, as reported in numerous newspapers, as well as, their television affiliate corporations. The perpetuation of fear through our news agencies gives me pause. It is too bad as there are some great deals out there for people who can see through the maze of media mayhem.

There is a book by Rothschild called, Bionomics, that everyone who is investing in any market should read. Balance this reading out with another book, by Schiller, called Irrational Exuberance. What I find between these two books is the fact that what we are experiencing today is the proof of Macro and Micro economic situations.

Our firm is heavily invested in CA, AZ, and TX. We chose to begin to work in TX due to the nature of the economic outlook on a national scale. We have done well in the CA and AZ markets, however, at this time due to the nature of the housing prices in CA vs rental incomes it is not cost advantageous to play there right now. In AZ it is a hold mode, as the inventory needs to balance itself out again. Although, as people are not buying, they are needing to still rent. Thus, there are more rental needs at this time. Add in the credit crunch creating that much more of a need for rental housing throughout the US at this time.

I need to stress, however, this does NOT mean to say that it is not time to buy...or build. Now is a perfect time to buy a home as prices have slowed in so many areas throughout the country.

This is what we constitute a Macro economic theory of the Real Estate market today.

I say though, that there are ALWAYS Micro economic climates in which one can find to place their money. With the baby boomers retiring, and this demographic just beginning a twenty year run, in droves to the southern areas this is where I chose to look into investing. Three years ago we went looking for the amenities that this demographic wants to have the most:
golf, walking, water, sport activities, sun and moderate year round weather, affordable housing, good cost of living... Texas is a state that is undervalued. In our estimations, it is undervalued to 15%.

Within this undervaluation, a grand home, still will fall within the Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac loan guarantee threshold of their current level of $417,000. This means that a larger demographic can get the house they need in this area due to the variable loan options that would still be on the table, even in today's market. We found golf course developments in their very infancy stages near growing metropolitan areas. When you combine affordabilty, proximity to nearly every amenity available, and a micro economic real estate environment due to the amount of people purchasing the numerous 1200 odd lots in one development and 3000 in another, all create a wonderful investment situation no matter what the economy outside of this situation shows.

Sometimes an investment must be looked at for all its own merits, despite what is happening 5 states away. These are different scenarios and hold nothing to do with one another.

I say it is time to play!!

Doug Boggs
President
BD Group, LLC