Goodbye, Dr. Laura

Goodbye and good riddance,Dr. Laura. Don't let the door hit you on the way out. Many of us will not miss your point of view.

Avoidance

Movies are not an ordinary part of my life these days. But one recent presentation about a military veteran caught my attention. In one section of the movie there was a discussion about post-traumatic stress disorder and the mechanisms with which affected troops (or other people, too) live their lives in response to the disorder.

A psychiatrist spoke to avoidance as one means of coping. People avoid situations which may remind them of their past trauma. That was a mechanism I employed after coming home from Vietnam and in some measures continue to apply to this day. Our society today practices avoidance in dealing with the ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan when we fail to see the images or to hear the pleas of the affected peoples.

The trauma of a war zone cannot be put into words. The experience is not one any human being deserves. Civilians, troops on both sides, and the land involved all suffer damage as a result of any war. In war the major insult is not to the troops but is rather to the civilians, the women, the children, and the aged who have no part in military activity. We must continue to remember every person on either side killed or wounded as a result of our military intervention is a son or daughter, maybe a mother or a father, perhaps a brother or a sister. Every life lost touches the lives of the many who surround that person. The damage spreads ripples throughout the surrounding society.

Walk a moment in the shoes of an Iraqi or Afghan civilian. Imagine your town is occupied by foreign soldiers. Imagine your cousin (or niece or brother) has been killed by the foreigners. How are you going to feel? Would you resist the occupation? What makes the Iraqi people one small bit different from us here in the U.S. or in any other nation around the globe?

Go one more step in your mind. Think about all the children born since the invasion who have known nothing but war in their short lives. How will this childhood affect them in the future? Will they be able to put this behind them and live peaceful lives or will they forever be scarred and turn into terrorists themselves?

I suggest we cease our avoidance and look to peaceful means of resolving world conflicts. The end solutions to terrorism will lie in social and economic change. We need to begin our pursuit of those measures as soon as possible. We must vote for those people offering the most hope of real change. Then we must remain vocal and keep in touch with those we elect to remind them they serve us first of all. Those we elect must lead our nation in the direction we choose. Only our continued action will insure the best course is taken.

Peace.

*********************************************
Quote of the Day:

In peace, sons bury their fathers.

In war, fathers bury their sons.

-- Herodotus


From Northington Notes, June 30, 2010.

Boycott Arizona

Given the signing of the most egregious immigration bill in America by the governor of Arizona the time has come for all who stand for human rights to boycott the state. No traveling in the state. Sell all investments. No offering of any support to the state administration or to the people who forged this terrible injustice.

Americans must speak up and be heard to end the ongoing racial discrimination and xenophobic behavior of too many in our nation today. Our nation was founded on principles of justice for all. We must not lose sight of our most important ideals lest we lose too much of what makes America a fine nation.

Peace.

Spygate in Lower Merion

The news continues to get worse and worse from the Lower Merion spy cam invasion of high school student homes. Now an attorney for the district confirms

at least 56,000 webcam photographs and screen shots from laptops issued to high school students

How much worse can this get. The district continues to claim no salacious content in the images but the mere fact the images were obtained at regular intervals

The tracking program took images every 15 minutes, usually capturing the webcam photo of the user and a screen shot at the same time. The program was sometimes turned on for weeks or months at a time.

is terrible. Whatever happened to privacy in our nation? Are we no longer allowed to keep our personal lives private at all?

Peace.

Palin's Fiscal Policy

Some people take a very simplistic approach to the world. Sarah Palin is no exception to that rule. Her fiscal policy seems to be one of "Take care of number one." All else falls far behind.

Peace.

The Party of "NO" Defends Wall Street

In the face of Democratic moves backed by the Obama admnistration to regulate Wall Street the Republicans once again are up in arms to defend the very institution that brought us the economic disaster we find today. Deregulation under the Bush administration led to the near collapse of our entire economic system. One may argue the bailout was not the way to go but at least as a result of TARP we have slowed the crash and begun to see some measures of recovery. We cannot allow Republican proposals to take the day and return us to the bad old days of a crashing market.

Peace.

Big Banks Crying Over Potential New Regulation

Proposed regulations aimed at increasing the liquidity of major banking establishments is being opposed by many of the players. The very same Wall Street bankers that brought us the recent economic disaster that ended in TARP funding are now decrying efforts to put in place a system aimed at preventing a second occurrence.

The U.S. banks argue that the liquidity rules could force lenders around the world to sell $6 trillion of new debt to meet the requirements. Under the rules, banks would have to maintain a “net stable funding ratio” of 100 percent, meaning they would need an amount of longer-term loans or deposits equal to their financing needs for 12 months, including off-balance-sheet commitments and anticipated securitizations. This would require that some short-term funding be replaced by longer-term debt.

And what is wrong with liquidity instead of a house of cards credit system?

Apparently the bottom line is the issue here.

Higher capital requirements and a stricter definition of capital may reduce lenders’ return on equity to 12.9 percent from the 13.8 percent estimated for 2012.

A few billions more for the industry or more assurance we taxpayers are better protected in the future.

That is not a real question in my mind. The runaway abuses of recent years by the Wall Street giants must be stopped. The few insiders who benefit do not deserve to live on our backs. We deserve some consideration, too.

Peace.

Bad News on the Environmental Front

The Obama administration is proposing to open large swaths of offshore areas to drilling for oil.

The proposal — a compromise that will please oil companies and domestic drilling advocates but anger some residents of affected states and many environmental organizations — would end a longstanding moratorium on oil exploration along the East Coast from the northern tip of Delaware to the central coast of Florida, covering 167 million acres of ocean.

The administration claims this move is an opening measure in a broad appeal

help win political support for comprehensive energy and climate legislation.

Anyone thinking the oil companies are going to appeased by this bribe is not looking at recent history. Corporate culture is not about supporting the environment but is all about making money and more money.

The move for more drilling looks to be one more energy boondoggle in the same range as "clean coal" and increased use of nuclear power. We have a long way to go in this fight.

Peace.

A Bit of Dem Backbone Showing

The ink on the new healthcare bill was not yet dry when corporations began to cry about the costs to them. And the GOP took hold immediately to tout the purported costs and potential job losses. As usual the truth is yet to be told.

But the reality is less striking than the enormous figures indicate.

When Part D was enacted in 2003, it contained a number of heavily criticized boondoggles for big businesses, but one such loophole offered companies subsidies to continue providing prescription drug benefits to retirees...and made those subsidies tax deductible.

Fast forward to 2010, the newly signed health care bill doesn't end the subsidies, or change the fact that those subsidies are tax free--it simply ends companies' ability to deduct them.

In preparing for the hit, though, companies have summed up the permanent cost of this tax change and plan to write it down all at once. Now, conservatives are citing that overall cost to suggest that these companies will have to bear a billion dollar burden every year. And, of course, the kicker is that this change will not take effect under the terms of the law for three years.

Dems are holding the corporations and Repubs to the truth but will the public hear any of the facts? Time will tell.

Republican Hypocrisy

From the Wilmington News Journal:

Republican hypocrisy continues to be evident as the health care bill care bill is signed into law.

After complaining first the law was too long, conservative voices began to rant about the law being too short. After pushing hard to get the sort of reforms they desired and watching Democrats move to the right, conservatives voted against the bill. Not one single Republican in the House of Representatives voted to support health care for Americans. How will Republicans explain this vote? Under the Bush administration, the Congressional Budget Office was touted as reliable in its estimates of costs for programs the Republicans desired. Now with the same office saying health care reform will save money for the nation, the same conservative voices are lifted in criticism and opposition to the analysis.

Will the hypocrisy never end? When will the American public awaken to the twisted half truths and outright lies being put forth today by too many voices on the fringes of conservative politics? When will the media begin to seek truth and facts instead of simply repeating the words of any voice available? We live in a time of great change. Only by facing facts and speaking truth will we move forward as a member of world society.

Jerry Northington

Actions speak much louder than words. All one need to is to follow the Republican actions to see the lies that come from their mouths at regular intervals.

Peace.

Who Are the Tea Party Members?

From Quinnipac:

Looking at voters who consider themselves part of the Tea Party movement:

* 74 percent are Republicans or independent voters leaning Republican;
* 16 percent are Democrats or independent voters leaning Democratic;
* 5 percent are solidly independent;
* 45 percent are men;
* 55 percent are women;
* 88 percent are white;
* 77 percent voted for Sen. John McCain in 2008;
* 15 percent voted for President Barack Obama.

Peace.

Airport Security

A recent poll from the Pew Research Foundation says 74% of Americans favor airport scanning that full body imaging that can see through clothing.

Among liberal Democrats, 61% favor the use of full-body scans while 32% are opposed, the lowest level of support within any political group.

For some of us privacy issues outweigh the small gains to be made in security. For the most part all these scanning and searching techniques are fluff and really do not improve security at all.

Peace.

An Open Letter to Conservatives

For any who may have missed the posting, Russell King has a most fine rant over at Talking Points Memo.

You're going to have to come up with a platform that isn't built on a foundation of cowardice: fear of people with colors, religions, cultures and sex lives that differ from your own; fear of reform in banking, health care, energy; fantasy fears of America being transformed into an Islamic nation, into social/commun/fasc-ism, into a disarmed populace put in internment camps; and more. But you have work to do even before you take on that task.

Your party -- the GOP -- and the conservative end of the American political spectrum has become irresponsible and irrational. Worse, it's tolerating, promoting and celebrating prejudice and hatred. Let me provide some expamples -- by no means an exhaustive list -- of where the Right as gotten itself stuck in a swamp of hypocrisy, hyperbole, historical inaccuracy and hatred.

If you're going to regain your stature as a party of rational, responsible people, you'll have to start by draining this swamp:

What follows is one of the finest summations of Republican Party failures and lies to be found anywhere today. Enjoy.

Peace.

U.S. Pulling Funding from Virtual Border Fence

The boondoggle that is being developed in Texas and across the southwest US as a "virtual border fence" is at last being reconsidered.

The U.S. government is pulling $50 million in funding from a problematic "virtual fence" meant to secure stretches of the Mexico border and is freezing additional funding for the project pending review, authorities said on Tuesday.

The building has been one cost overrun after another with multiple failures along the way. The time has come to pull the plug once and for all on this mess.

The solution to our immigration problems is not going to be found in efforts to seal our borders. That is an effort which may well be impossible at any cost. Real solutions are best found in open borders with more freedom to travel. If people are allowed to enter the nation, work a time, and return to their homes we are much less likely to see long term residents without appropriate documentation. Today if people get in the country they are reluctant to leave as return may be impossible.

And the drug wars are another entire problem without any regard to immigration issues. The list goes on and on but in no case is an electronic border a reasonable course to take.

Peace.

Tea Party Group Posts Stock Photos to Suggest Racial Diversity

In a big to promote conservative values Clarence Thomas' wife has started her own branch of the tea party. Not to be daunted by their failure to attract real members of diverse racial origins the website has stock photos instead.

Will duplicity ever end with those folks? What ever happened to honesty in our nation?

Republican Healthcare Fail

--John Sherffius

How many more must die before we change this system?

Peace.

Coons is In

The speculation may stop. Chris is in for sure.

I am pleased to announce to you, my friends and long-time supporters, my candidacy for Delaware's open seat in the United States Senate. In the coming weeks, I will formally kick off my campaign with formal announcements in each county.

People in Delaware are hurting, and they deserve a Senator who will wake up every day and fight for the people in our great state. That's what my campaign will be about. With your support and help, I can take my record of success here in Delaware and my vision for our future to the U.S. Senate.

Together, we can reach out across Delaware to share a positive message about creating jobs, restoring our communities, and keeping families safe. I can't do this without you. Your financial support and volunteer time is critical in making this campaign a success. Please visit my new campaign web site at www.chriscoons.com to make a contribution, sign up for email alerts, and volunteer on the campaign.

My family and I appreciate and are inspired by the calls and emails of support we received as we came to this important decision. We look forward to working together in the weeks to come.

Sincerely,

Chris Coons

Mighty Little, Mighty Late

News of NRG's closing three of four units at Indian River is good in the overall. Delays until 2013 for cleaning up the remaining unit are not good.

And there remains the issue of those ash piles. In every other place around the nation where contamination from ash piles has been studied the results are frightening. Will NRG ever allow that testing? If the testing is accomplished what will be done to clean up and end ongoing contamination?

Peace.

Hopeful News

Among other issues of the day there is good news.

John McCain is not President. What more need be said?

Peace.

Congress, Are You Listening

The loss of a longtime Democratic Senate seat in Massachusetts will be bandied about by the pundits for weeks to come. In my mind the message is clear, the public is tired of a Congress doing too little to aid the common man. We are tired of seeing Wall Street bailouts followed by huge profits and gigantic bonuses while people are losing jobs and homes. The voters want a Congress that gets down to work and does the job of putting this nation back on track.

The Obama administration was voted into office in part as an angry reaction to the Bush administration. The voters remain unsettled and are voicing their unrest by moving against the Democratic mainstream. People want to see change even if that change may not be best in the long term. Trouble is on the horizon. If or not government will respond is in the hands of our Congress, the very best Congress money can buy.

Peace.