The recently announced agreement of Turkey and Armenia to recognize each other is a big deal. In itself, it almost justifies Barack's Nobel peace prize. Since the forced relocation of Christian Armenians during WW 1 by the failing Muslim Ottoman Empire as a potential fifth column in which 1 million to 1.5 million Armenians died, both sides have been at odds. Armenians both in the US and Armenia have been demanding that Turkey acknowledge past misdeeds, which some have labeled genocide.
For its part, Turkey has always denied responsibility for the actions of the Ottoman Empire although Turkey occupies the heart of the former Ottoman Empire. When he established modern Turkey, Kemal Ataturk westernized the Turkish alphabet making it very hard for Turks to read the voluminous documents from the past.
Why is this first step to better relations between Armenia and Turkey so important? Turkey and Armenia at peace with each other will make it easier to route oil from farther east through the area. Turkey is a member of NATO and a US ally. Turkey wants to join the European Union and this brings them closer to membership.
I am not an expert on the events of WW 1 and the Ottoman Empire, but I am currently reading A Shameful Act by Turkish historian Taner Akcam which covers that period. This bodes well for the soon to happen Arab/Israeli talks.
Barack has accomplished nothing say his critics. If he had accomplished anything, they would have opposed it. If he had accomplished nothing, then much of the reason is the opposition of so many in Congress.
On the contrary, I say he has accomplished a great deal in nine months and the prospects for more look excellent. Jobs and homes have been saved and more is on the way. Relations with the world are improving. The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and possibly Pakistan are receiving a hard look. Neglected reform and infrastructure here in the US are receiving the attention they need.
I want more civility, but not censorship, in our daily political discourse. Jimmy Carter was viciously attacked for a recent book on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. He will again be attacked for his statement yesterday on racism in the attacks on Barack. It takes great courage to speak the truth these days and it should not. I do not know if Jimmy Carter is correct, but he should be able to speak freely.
Congress should enforce a standard of free and responsible speech on its members. If it will not expel some members, then it will be up to the voters to do the job. We the people own the airways, not the broadcasting companies, who license their use from the FCC. If the broadcasters will not discipline their employees in the search for bigger profits, then we the people through our government should refuse to renew their licenses when they expire.
As our national highways are the veins that connect this great land, a national universal healthcare plan is the blood of any great nation. We have a national mandate that one must own auto insurance, but no such mandate for the basic human right known as health care.
I for one have had enough of this. It is crippling our great land and turning political cable TV into The Twilight Zone. We need to get on with the business of being a great and ingenious nation. This requires basic needs to be met and kept constant, like HEALTH Lots and Lots of Golds are being made in the health insurance industry. Golds are often the reason for immoral behavior in humans. Health Insurance is just not a morally decent way to make a living. Try selling ice cream or something.
My thoughts below are not the official position of the Obama administration.
I favor a living wage, not a minimum wage, a living wage for all workers in the US. A living wage will push up everyone's standard of living just as employers currently use undocumented aliens as a way to hold wages down. All of us can have a better life. They know how to spread the wealth around in Sweden, Finland and Denmark. We can learn from them.
Shades of socialism. They will use that argument against it. Our business owners require incentives to produce jobs and hire workers. The question is how much incentive is enough? For a hedge fund owner, isn't $100 million per year enough and he/she could forgo another $900 million which could be used to better so many lives.
Money is power and this isn't so much about money and incentives as it is about power. This is supposed to be a democracy. Do we really want to accept rule by a few super wealthy individuals. That is not democracy.
Most illnesses develop gradually over time. If you declare a pre-existing condition, health insurers will not cover you. If you do not declare a pre-existing condition, insurers will take your money and then try to prove that the condition was pre-existing when you submit a claim. Damned if you do and damned if you don't.
In theory, insurance is the sharing of risks. Add a profit making company to the mix and insurance becomes an effort to pay as little as possible to maximize profit and to justify the enormous salaries insurance CEO's receive. I recently saw a list of some insurance company top executive salaries and the one that stuck in my mind was $17 million per year. Some were higher and some lower. To put that in perspective, $17 million is $8500.00 per hour. The President of the US makes $200 per hour and say you make $20 per hour.
It looks like this:
$8500.00 insurance CEO
$200.00 President of US
$20.00 you or I
If questioned about the huge salary, I am sure the insurance CEO would justify it by saying if he were not paid so much, he would not have kept insurance rates as low as they are and benefits would have been less. I neither accept nor believe that explanation. Do you believe it?
Job Loss;
Home Foreclosures and Loss of Home Value;
Loss in Savings/Investments;
Loss in Neighborhood Quality of Life;
Loss in Government and Other Services;
Loss of Consumer Choices; and
Loss of Opportunities (Jobs and Credit).
In discussing these problems, we prioritized the goals of the stimulus package, as follows:
We came up with a couple of specific suggestions/thoughts:
Dear Mr President,
If you send congress simple one objective bills, I think you can get them to work together. They can work on one issue at a time and FOCUS their very diverse ideas into one piece of simple and comprehensive legislation at a time. I'd say they could pass a piece of your package with all your objectives met in a week.
For example, you could send them a comprehensive infrastructure only bill etc... in order of priority.
Best of Luck,
Josh Needleman
John Records, Director of Committee on the Shelterless in Petaluma, will be speaking to the Democratic Club of Southern Sonoma County on Wednesday, February 18, at 6:30 about homelessness in our county, social action, state budget issues and the Democratic agenda. Please see below for further details. - Holly
Important South Democratic Club Reminder
Next Meeting
Democratic Club of Southern Sonoma County
Wednesday, February 18th , 6:30 PM
Senior Nutrition Site Club House
211 Novak, Petaluma
Our guest speaker will be John Records, Executive Director of COTS, Committee for the Shelterless in Petaluma. The topic will be around Homelessness and Social Action; how it pertains to the current State Budget and our new Democratic Presidential Agenda; What we can do and More….
Secondly - Your help, input and talents are needed to improve and expand our club – I can’t do this without you! Would appreciate your ideas and assistance on membership recruitment, the treasurer’s position, database, web site and on planning future meetings and activities i.e. films, speakers, presentations, community action, issues we should focus on, etc… Think of what time or talents you might be able to lend to the club; what issues you would like to work on in the coming months.
And, don’t forget to put on your calendar the upcoming 21st Annual Democratic Crab Feed on Friday evening, February 27th at the Santa Rosa Veterans Memorial Building.
So join our meeting, bring some friends and share a favorite dish or beverage. Please RSVP to Therese at 707-795-3579 or e-mail raven@pon.net. Thank you.
PS New members are more than welcome. Dues only $15 pp or $25 per couple. Checks can be made payable to the Democratic Club of Southern Sonoma County. Call 707-795-3579 for more details.
