The Cloud of War

As we contemplate the ongoing healthcare mess in Congress and hear some words about immigration reform and other pressing social issues across the nation let us not for one moment forget the monstrous cloud of two ongoing wars, Iraq and Afghanistan. The pressures of supporting those military events may prevent the Obama administration from enacting the kinds of social and economic reform the country expected with the election.

James Carroll in a posting today says it all.

The scale of President Obama’s military mistake is becoming clear exactly as the moment of his greatest opportunity to improve American life has arrived. The tragedy, as with Lyndon Johnson, will be the destruction of his proposed social transformation by his simultaneous opting for war, as his core supporters among liberals and Democrats feel bound to oppose him. The day after Obama’s unifying speech on health reform, Senator Carl Levin, chairman of the Armed Services Committee, sent a foreboding warning on Afghanistan, ahead of an all but certain request from the Pentagon for a major escalation there. The storm cloud approaches.

If we are to have any real future in this nation of ours we must end our militaristic policies and begin to seek peace for one and all around the globe.

Peace.

Peace Underfunded in Increasingly Militaristic World

The world is over-armed and peace is under-funded

says United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

They are destabilising societies and feeding the flames of civil wars and terror.

I could not have said it any better.

The United States leads the world in military expenditures. When will we ever learn we are losing this race? Peace is a much better course to pursue.

Peace.

Drought in Mexico a Sign of Things to Come?

Water shortage in Mexico is at crisis proportions in the current drought.

Crops are wilting in the countryside, and the capital's water shortage has turned dire as Mexico grapples with its worst drought in more than half a century.

Will the U.S. be next? The current problems with oil may look pretty small in the face of a looming water shortage around the globe.

Peace.

New Afghan Strategy Looks Same as the Old

Administration claims to the contrary the "new strategy" in Afghanistan looks just like the same old losing mess.

Western forces were engulfed in bitter controversy yesterday after Nato air strikes on two oil tankers hijacked by the Taliban in northern Afghanistan led to carnage with a fireball killing 95 people, dozens of them civilians.

More civilians killed as "collateral damage." We do not win friends this way. Our influence following such attacks is to move more people to the insurgency.

How much longer will our government continue this failing course? Can our leaders not see the failure of their ways?

Peace.

The Public Option Continues to Struggle

RobertAriail.com

And Congressman Castle continues to oppose any thought of a public option.

We need more time to understand the process. ... there's a lot of misrepresentation that makes it extremely hard for all this to move forward.

How many years must we wait for this to move forward? How many must die before real healtcare reform is offered?

Congressman Castle and many more in Congress continue to live in the pockets of the healthcare industry. I guess a man considering a run for the Senate needs to look out for his major contributors at the expense of his electorate.

Peace.

US Wants 20,000 More Troops For Afghanistan

More bad news this morning on the war front. Reports of requests for an addtional 20,000 American troops are circulating.

The commander of Nato forces in Afghanistan will ask for 20,000 more international troops as part of his new strategic plan for the alliance's war against a resurgent Taliban.

When will enough be enough? Will we never learn the solutions to Afghanistan do not lie in military force?

I continue to be distraught at the mess we are generating. For the amounts of money being spent on military force we could feed, house, educate, and medicate an entire population in a nation like Afghanistan. Continued pouring of funds into the black hole of military action is futile. We must change our course if we are ever to have any measure of "victory" in this quagmire.

Peace.

Resolution--Health Care Reform

From the Progressive Democrats of Sussex County, DE, comes this fine resolution. Please feel free to modify and distribute with your organization's name and to your Congress critters. This issue is important enough we every one need to spread the word as far as possible.

Peace.

Resolution - Health Care Reform

WHEREAS, 20,000 die each year in the United States because they cannot afford to see a doctor, 700,000 go bankrupt because of their medical bills, almost fifty million Americans lack any health insurance at all, and millions more who do have private coverage pay increasingly unaffordable premiums; and
WHEREAS, every developed country except the United States has concluded that providing health care for all their citizens is a right not a privilege; and
WHEREAS, health care in the United States is now in major crisis and affordable health care for all Americans is a matter of the utmost urgency in our time; and
WHEREAS, despite efforts by well funded extremists to disseminate false and misleading information about health care reform, public polls show that an overwhelming majority of Americans want health care reform to include, as a matter of choice, a robust public option similar to Medicare in order to create, as President Obama has said, significant competition for the medical insurance industry; and
WHEREAS, co-ops or so-called “triggers” are inadequate in and of themselves to generate either the kind or the amount of competition needed to keep medical and insurance costs down;
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the Progressive Democrats of Sussex County  urge Senator Thomas Carper, Senator Edward Kaufman and Representative Michael Castle to vote for only such healthcare reform proposals as contain a robust public option at all stages of the legislative process including conference and reconciliation, and encourages legislators to use any available parliamentary means to pass such reform;
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Progressive Democrats of Sussex County shall send a copy of this resolution to all members of Congress who represent its members.

DFA Hiring Field Organizers in DE

Democracy for America is hiring state-level Public Option Field Organizers for an intense three-month pressure campaign to pass a public option as part of healthcare reform.

We're upping the ante and are looking to put full-time, hired, grassroots field organizers, on the ground to pressure elected leaders to pass healthcare reform with a public option in your state.

You can see the entire job description here: DemocracyForAmerica.com/PublicOptionApply

You know your state better than anyone and you have better contacts. We need your help to get the word out because time is critical and we have a very tight timeline to hire additional staff.

Can you pass this position onto anyone you think might be a good fit? Can you post this on a local blog? Send it to a local email list?

Public Option Field Organizers will have their work cut out for them. They need to hit the ground running to build grassroots pressure and get Senators and Representatives off the fence in support of the public option.

If you know anyone interested in joining this intense three-month campaign to get a public option passed, please send them this link:

DemocracyForAmerica.com/PublicOptionApply

Thank you for all that you do,

-AQ

Adam Quinn, Field Director
Democracy for America

P.S. Questions? As always, feel free to contact me and the rest of the DFA Field Team at field@democracyforamerica.com.

Status Quo Anxiety

In the continuing healthcare debate sentiment is rising against reform among some people who should know better. The New Yorker online has a discussion of

the so-called “endowment effect”: the mere fact that you own something leads you to overvalue it.

The end result is for people who already have health insurance they tend to wish to keep their status no matter how flawed the system.

More strikingly, talk of changing the system may actually accentuate the endowment effect.

So in effect the more we discuss the possibility of change the more resistant some people may become to any such idea.

The issue of cost cutting becomes an inordinate problem for many.

The problem is that once you start talking about cost-cutting you make people think about what they might have to give up. And that makes them value what they have more highly.

And resistance to reform builds.

What we may need to accomplish as progressives interested in real reform is modify the message.

Changing the system so that individuals can get affordable health care, while banning bad behavior on the part of insurance companies, will actually make it more likely, not less, that people will get to preserve their current level of coverage. The message, in other words, should be: if we want to protect the status quo, we need to reform it.

Time to get to work. Healthcare reform is necessary. We have no time to wait.

Peace.

The Facts of Malpractice Claims and Healthcare Cost

Want the facts about the impact of malpractice claims and healthcare in America today? Check this (PDF) out.

• Medical malpractice premiums, inflation-adjusted, are nearly the lowest they have been in over 30 years.
• Medical malpractice claims, inflation-adjusted, are dropping significantly, down 45 percent since 2000.
• Medical malpractice premiums are less than one-half of one percent of the country’s overall health care costs; medical malpractice claims are a mere one-fifth of one percent of health care costs. In over 30 years, premiums and claims have never been greater than 1% of our nation’s health care costs.
• Medical malpractice insurer profits are higher than the rest of the property casualty industry, which has been remarkably profitable over the last five years.
• The periodic premium spikes that doctors experience, as they did from 2002 until 2005, are not related to claims but to the economic cycle of insurers and to drops in investment income.
• Many states that have resisted enacting severe restrictions on injured patients’ legal rights experienced rate changes (i.e., premium increases or decreases for doctors) similar to those states that enacted severe restrictions on patients’ rights, i.e., there is no correlation between “tort reform” and insurance rates for doctors.

Tort reform may or may not be a necessary process but to put this issue into the current healthcare debate is dishonest.

Peace.

Radioactive Wreckage, Landmines Blight Iraq

After many years of war in Iraq the fallout in terms of landmines and radioactive material remains in large measures untouched.

...only a fraction of tanks and other wartime vehicles contaminated with depleted uranium have been successfully treated and disposed of by the Iraqi authorities.

And landmines continue to kill and to maim Iraqis day by day. The issue is a pressing one but other concerns keep this on the back burner. Security concerns keep much of the damage hidden. Money is not available to decontaminate known areas as those dollars are considered to be more necessary for security.

When ever will the Iraqis see the end of this mess? Radioactivity is known to linger for long periods of time. Even though the exact damage caused by depleted uranium is not known we may surmise the damage will continue for generations to come.

As always it is the women and children who suffer most.


Peace.

Take Time

From Northington Notes, August 15.

In our all too busy lives these days time to stop and enjoy our surroundings is sometimes overlooked. The pressures of constant contact (cell phones, twitter, the internet, and other means of electronic communication) leave us without much time to ourselves if we allow life to consume our being. At least once a day (and many more times is even better) taking the time to sit back, relax, and enjoy the sights and sounds of our natural world is an investment in mental health which will pay dividends for all our remaining lifetimes.

My personal pleasure is the garden. Sitting in a chair
watching the grass grow as the breeze moves leaves
and flowers about at intervals not predicted or controlled
by me lends a measure of pleasure hard to match.
The serenity that comes from such times allows my mind
to continue functioning in response to the daily pressures
of life (family, self, friends, and job). Without those times
of quiet contemplation life can begin to wear on my own mindset.

Just think a moment about the people in our government today. What about the pressures they face? In the world of today the forces at work are nothing short of monumental. Maybe if government took a few moments for collective silence and meditation even those processes would move along with a better tempo.

But our society is not yet ready for collective periods of contemplation. So it is to the individual such times are left. Each of us is responsible for our own well being. To that end we need to be sure we each have those periods of quiet which refresh the mind and renew the spirit. As my father often said, "All work and no play makes a dull boy." I agree.



To subscribe to this biweekly e-mail posting for yourself send a note to Jerry at JerryNorthington dot com with SUBSCRIBE in the subject line.

Peace.

From Nate Silver a few days ago.

The fundamental accomplishments of a public option-less bill would be to (1) ensure that no American could be denied coverage because of a pre-existing condition or because they became sick; (2) subsidize health insurance coverage for millions of poor and middle-class Americans.

These are major, major accomplishments. Arguably, they are accomplished at too great a cost. But let's look at it like this. The CBO estimates that the public option would save about $150 billion over the next ten years -- that's roughly $1,100 for every taxpayer. I'm certainly not thrilled to have to pay an additional $1,100 in taxes because some Blue Dog Democrats want to placate their friends in the insurance industry. But I think the good in this health care bill -- the move toward universal-ish coverage, the cost-control provisions -- is worth a heck of a lot more than $1,100.

I'd be happy to save that money for years to come. So why are we still seeing Democrats arguing to put the money into the pockets of industry instead of proving a true public service?

Peace.

Can Iraq Get Any Worse?

Every time I begin to think there may be a small ray of hope for the situation in Iraq a new report of increased violence comes to the fore. Today's news of 95 dead in a series of attacks proves the point.

Taken together, the attacks were among the most devastating in Baghdad since the withdrawal of American forces from street patrols at the end of June. American soldiers and officials in the area were left helpless, as witnessed by six soldiers snapping a few quick pictures of the devastation from personal cameras before ducking out of the streets.

At least under Saddam Hussein this sort of violence did not exist. With the collapse of government, the failure of U.S. forces to bring a stable government, and the ongoing lack of real redevelopment or any other sort of actual solutions the violence is likely to increase over time. At this point in time one would be hard pressed to find a rational solution to the devastation we have created. The stain of Iraq will linger long on the American conscience.

Peace.

Psychology Helps Explain Our Slow Reaction to Global Climate Change

The American Psychological Association released a recent paper suggesting reasons why people are so slow to respond to the threat of global climate change. In spite of polls showing a majority of Americans seeing climate change as a major problem, the issue is most often ranked far below other current problems.

Uncertainty – Research has shown that uncertainty over climate change reduces the frequency of "green" behavior.
Mistrust – Evidence shows that most people don't believe the risk messages of scientists or government officials.
Denial – A substantial minority of people believe climate change is not occurring or that human activity has little or nothing to do with it, according to various polls.
Undervaluing Risks – A study of more than 3,000 people in 18 countries showed that many people believe environmental conditions will worsen in 25 years. While this may be true, this thinking could lead people to believe that changes can be made later.
Lack of Control – People believe their actions would be too small to make a difference and choose to do nothing.
Habit – Ingrained behaviors are extremely resistant to permanent change while others change slowly. Habit is the most important obstacle to pro-environment behavior, according to the report.

One simple solution is immediate feedback. People are more likely to buy energy efficient appliances if they can see how much money and energy are being saved by using that appliance. Just think about cars with their mileage meters. And for those with solar panels there is a meter showing the daily production of electricity and the amount of CO2 saved from the atmosphere. Immediate positive reinforcement is a strong motivator of human behavior.

Peace.

The War We Can't Win

Andrew Bacevich in a posting speaks to the war in Afghanistan in terms that are straight forward and easy to understand. Bacevich points out the ongoing institution of war as adopted by President Obama after the fall of President Bush.

The misguided and mismanaged global war on terror reduced Bush’s presidency to ruin. The candidate whose run for high office derived its energy from an implicit promise to repudiate all that Bush had wrought now seems intent on salvaging something useful from that failed enterprise—even if that means putting his own presidency at risk. When it comes to Afghanistan, Obama may be singing in a different key, but to anyone with an ear for music—especially for military marches—the melody remains intact.

Fixing Afghanistan is not only unnecessary, it’s also likely to prove impossible. Not for nothing has the place acquired the nickname Graveyard of Empires.

Six-plus years after it began, Operation Iraqi Freedom has consumed something like a trillion dollars—with the meter still running—and has taken the lives of more than forty-three hundred American soldiers

Among the dead is Bacevich' son.

Given the embarrassing yet indisputable fact that this was an utterly needless war—no Iraqi weapons of mass destruction found, no ties between Saddam Hussein and the jihadists established, no democratic transformation of the Islamic world set in motion, no road to peace in Jerusalem discovered in downtown Baghdad—to describe Iraq as a success, and as a model for application elsewhere, is nothing short of obscene. The great unacknowledged lesson of Iraq is the one that the writer Norman Mailer identified decades ago: “Fighting a war to fix something works about as good as going to a whorehouse to get rid of a clap.”

The continuing distortions of U.S. security run rampant. The administration continues to increase foreign commitments in the name of national security when Mexico is rife with drug wars and governmental corruption. Yet not one politician is suggesting we invade Mexico in the name of national security. Given his criticism of the Bush war during the campaign, Obama's current position remains inexplicable.

Will any of our politicians ever learn? War has never been a solution. Every war sows the seeds of the next conflict. Until and unless humankind learns those lessons we are doomed to ever more violent interactions in the names of "security" and "diplomacy."

Peace.

Hiroshima, 64 years ago today

The tragedy that marks the bombing of Hiroshima was 64 years ago today.

Nearly 70,000 people are believed to have been killed immediately, with possibly another 70,000 survivors dying of injuries and radiation exposure by 1950.

And yet we as a species continue the nuclear arms race to this day. Will we never learn?

Peace.

Keith Olbermann Gets It Right

In a special comment Olbermann says it all.

I warn you all. You were not elected to create a Democratic majority. You were elected to restore this country. You were not elected to serve the corporations and the trusts who the government has enabled for the last eight years.

You were elected to serve the people. And if you fail to pass or support this legislation, the full wrath of the progressive and the moderate movements in this country will come down on your heads.

Explain yourselves not to me, but to them. They elected you, and in the blink of an eye, they will replace you.

If you will behave as if you are Republicans - as if you are the prostitutes of our system - you will be judged as such. And you will lose not merely our respect. You will lose your jobs!

Every poll, every analysis, every vote, every region of this country supports health care reform, and the essential great leveling agent of a government-funded alternative to the unchecked duopoly of profiteering private insurance corporations.

Let us all hope Americans of every ilk awaken to the travesty that is our healthcare system and the best Congress money can buy.

Peace.

Happy Birthday, Mr. President

President Obama turns 48 today.


hugovk, Flickr, Creative Commons

May the day be blessed with all the goodness of another birthday. And many happy returns.

Peace.

Censorship Returns to Iraq

In the name of Democracy and protecting its citizens the government of Iraq is stepping back to the dark times of Saddam Hussein and instituting media controls which limit the availability of literature and web access. The doors of access to music and media were thrown open in the initial U.S. invasion in 2003. Now those doors are to be closed once again.

This month, the government has started to require dozens of Internet cafes to register with the government or be closed.

This spring, the government contacted the handful of Iraqi book publishers still in business and asked them to compile lists of their books, along with a description of the subject matter.

Once again we are reminded of the failure of the U.S. course in Iraq to bring real democracy. Never in the course of history has democracy been instilled by a foreign power. The Iraqi people deserve the choice for themselves. If or not this current government course will stand depends in large measures on the people themselves. We shall see...

Peace.