Since dialogue and negotiations are working with Iran, then why all those threats of sanctions? Some politicians are trying to look hawkish and tough on Iran and are saying: “If there were no threats of further sanctions, then Iranians would not be willing to compromise?!” To those types of exaggerated comments I would like to reply; that type of attitude is furthest from the truth. If threats could work against Iran, then 8 years of threats and a few sanctions would have worked on Iranians during the previous administration.
However, the only thing that has worked with Iranians is the positive attitude of President Obama as well as his Excellency’s mostly objective and visionary approach to international affairs. So if such a positive approach and vision for CHANGE works, then why ruin a good thing with threats? Just to look tough?! Please DO believe it, friendly is much more effective than tough with Iranians. I would like to reemphasize this previously made point; if tough talk and threats could work, then they would have worked in the past. President Abraham Lincoln: “Believing everybody is dangerous, but believing nobody is more dangerous”
Please note:
1- Christians and Jews are considered to be people of the book by Moslems as well as the holy Quran and NOT non-believers.
2- There are Al-Qaeda terrorist extremist who consider more than a hundred Million Shia Moslems NOT true believers and believe they should all be killed. But thank GOD those guys are less than 3% of Moslem population of the World. We have radical Christians who think the same about Moslems and there percentage is higher than those radical Moslems. Most likely these types of e-mails are initiated by such radical people. A True Moslem is a Christian and a Jew as well.
4- In Islam even non believers are respected and not killed and Prophet Mohammad did just that when he conquered Mecca. He told his followers to respect the home all enemies even atheist... And Christians and Jews are people of book and the holy Quran has many stories about Saint Virgin Mary, Prophets Noah, Abraham, Moses and Jesus as well as the full story of Ten Commandments.
ARK
Medium, media, median, mediate, all from a root meaning in the middle, between two opposing sides or views.
The purpose of the media in the US and other democracies is to inform the citizens so that they can make intelligent decisions. Here in the US, the purpose of the media has been perverted to making profits at the expense of the news and providing entertainment in place of information. The Right derides the media as liberal dominated in an effort to discount what ever little information the media does provide. It is the plan of the Right to deprive our citizens of any information that could counter the propaganda the Right wishes to use to govern by misleading the voters.
I am a firm supporter of single payer insurance reform, but I will consider a public option that gives priority to preventive care, among other features. Tragically, the corporate and insurance lobbyists will have killed the public option if we drink the Bipartisan Compromise Kool-Aid. NOW IS THE CRUCIAL TIME TO FIGHT FOR OUR OPTIONS, NOT JUST PRINCIPLES. WE NEED TO BUG EACH SENATOR AND REPRESENTATIVE EVERY DAY IN AUGUST!
Read this article and you will see what I mean:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/cenk-uygur/the-bipartisan-compromise_b_245991.html
NICU, Neonatal intensive care unit, is where premature babies receive care before they are released from the hospital to go home and live a hopefully normal life. ER, emergency room, is where all people go to receive emergency care when they need it. I have worked in both and can see the connection there but does anyone else see the link?
In a California hospital having a 25 bed NICU, I worked occasionally as a unit clerk. There is not much for a unit clerk to do in an NICU so I had time to observe the patients and think about what I was seeing. When the unit was full, 22 or 23 out of 25 patients had a full head of black hair and Spanish surnames. Whether their parents were here legally or not, all of the patients born here in US were fellow US citizens with the same rights as you or I. Even if insured, I doubt that any of the parents could afford the weeks or months of very expensive treatment afforded by the NICU. Who picked up the bills? You and I did through taxes or decreased wages if we worked at the hospital.
This NICU was on the second floor. A few steps away on the first floor was the ER. There each weekend night I xrayed the victims of gang violence from neighboring towns. Hardly a weekend passed without a gang related stabbing or shooting. These involved Spanish surnamed individuals of 18 to 20 years old who might have had health disabilities from a childhood where if they were lucky, they received care in an NICU. When the gang violence involved only the Spanish surnamed, society seemed not to care. If an Anglo happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, then society cared about the incident.
How do we improve the health of our citizens and reduce the cost to all of us of NICU care? I advocate free pre-natal care so that all citizens are born healthier and will as adults be able to contribute to society. I also advocate making a place for our minorities in good schools and good neighborhoods so that no one can feel discriminated against. I believe that racial discrimination is a contributing factor to people joining gangs.
I do not know when life begins. Some say it begins at conception. If that is true and a conceived child must be born, then our obligations to the child do not end at birth. We owe the child a helping hand throughout their life so each child has the same opportunities that the most fortunate of us have.
Here's a record that I've keep, not up to date, but a list of some of the things he's done:
On April 25th approximately 150 volunteers gathered in Indianapolis to discuss our vision for the OFA grassroots movement. Without question there was a sense of urgency and responsibility on behalf of the volunteers to build a new brand of government. Some of the themes included:
Educate.
Before Disaster Strikes: Employers Should Think Strategically Before a Public Health Emergency Occurs
In the past few days, United States health officials have declared a public health emergency over the steadily increasing number of humans affected by Swine Influenza. This declaration, and the intensive media coverage that followed, has sparked nationwide concern as the government and its various health agencies hasten to contain the outbreak. While Swine Influenza has yet to be declared a pandemic, the prospect that it could become more widespread raises an important question: does your business have sufficient mechanisms in place to deal with a public health emergency or other disaster? Businesses play a significant role in protecting employees’ health and ensuring employees’ safety in the event of a pandemic or other crisis. As such, advance, strategic planning is crucial. Employers should take time now to educate themselves about available resources in an effort to minimize an emergency’s impact and, in the case of a pandemic, to reduce the spread of disease. For example, the Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have formulated guidelines to help employers plan for a pandemic and other comparable disasters. These guidelines, along with comprehensive checklists for employers, are compiled on the CDC’s “Workplace Planning” webpage. The United States Chamber of Commerce has similarly developed a list of issues employers should consider now given the potential for a Swine Influenza pandemic.
Workplace FAQ's Concerning Pandemic Influenza
http://www.jacksonlewis.com/legalupdates/article.cfm?aid=1704
Posted: April 30, 2009
Employers are beginning to confront many thorny questions about how best to respond to concerns about the spread of swine influenza (H1N1 virus) in the workplace. For several years, federal, state and local governments have been working hard to prepare for a potential pandemic. As part of that effort, the federal government developed a series of Frequently Asked Questions, addressing workplace issues that may arise in a pandemic. We are providing links to these FAQ’s below which can be found if you click here.
As you will see, some questions do not have clear cut answers. Also, while some employer responses to workplace concerns may appear reasonable, given the threats to health and safety, they may raise concerns under existing federal laws. The U.S. Department of Labor and other federal agencies reportedly are currently reviewing federal statutes and regulations that may affect employers and employees during the unique circumstance where the U.S. experiences a severe influenza pandemic. Decisions have not yet been made as to whether any changes are needed and answers to questions, therefore, are based on current laws and regulations.
Finally, as noted in many FAQ answers, employers also should be guided in their relationship with their employees not only by federal employment law, but by their own employee handbooks, manuals, and contracts (including bargaining agreements), and any applicable state or local laws.
The Blue Dog Coalition - who celebrated 13 years of leadership in 2008 - has built a reputation as a serious player in the policy arena, promoting positions which bridge the gap between ideological extremes. Many of the group's policy proposals have been praised as fair, responsible, and positive additions to a Congressional environment too often marked as partisan and antagonistic.
The 47 conservative and moderate Democrats in the group hail from every region of the country, although the group acknowledges some southern ancestry which accounts for the group's nickname. Taken from the South's longtime description of a party loyalist as one who would vote for a yellow dog if it were on the ballot as a Democrat, the "Blue Dog" moniker was taken by members of The Coalition because their moderate-to-conservative-views had been "choked blue" by their party in the years leading up to the 1994 election.
The Coalition was formed in the 104th Congress as a policy-oriented group to give moderate and conservative Democrats in the House of Representatives a common sense, bridge-building voice within the institution.
Most agree that, since then, the Blue Dogs have successfully injected a moderate viewpoint into the Democratic Caucus, where group members now find greater receptiveness to their opinions. In fact, the continuing political success of "Blue Pups" in the 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004 and 2006 elections points to the public's approval of the centrist, fiscally responsible message represented by The Coalition. Since 1996, 24 Blue Dogs won their seats by defeating a Republican incumbent.
The Coalition has been particularly active on fiscal issues, relentlessly pursuing a balanced budget and then protecting that achievement from politically popular "raids" on the budget. Past Coalition budgets have won the endorsement of the nonpartisan Concord Coalition and multiple newspaper and magazine editorials. As one column pointed out, the Blue Dogs have proven that "common sense, conservative economics and compassion aren't necessarily mutually exclusive."
Blue Dog Coalition proposals have served as middle-ground markers which laid the foundation for the bipartisanship necessary to bring about fundamental reforms, and helped set into law policies reflecting the "common sense, conservative compassion" so often attached to the group's efforts.
In the 110h Congress, the Coalition intends to continue to make a difference in Congress by forging middle-ground, bipartisan answers to the current challenges facing the Country. A top priority will be to refocus Congress on balancing the budget and ridding taxpayers of the burden the debt places on them.
The group also expects to be involved in a variety of issues, where the stale extreme left vs. right approach requires a breath of fresh air.
From Govloop: Social Network for Government 2.0
Fact-Checking Obama on That Job Count
In President Barack Obama’s news conference on Wednesday night, he said the $787 billion economic stimulus bill has already created or saved over 150,000 jobs. We decided to find out how the president arrived at that figure. The simple answer: guesswork. It turns out the feds don’t have a way to measure exactly how many jobs have been created or saved, so they use projections instead, and it’s all rather academic. Read the full article.
Just received --->
Counter Fear... (Live and) Laugh Out Loud!
It was once said that a black man would be president "when pigs fly" ...indeed 100 days into Obama's Presidency...Swine Flu!!!
