Obama Birth Certificate shows Birther Concerns Are Racist

FYI

I hope you will pass this on to others so as to put an end to "birther" concerns. Anybody who continues to believe Obama wasn't born in Hawaii is announcing they are racist. Okay?

Birtherist response highlights racial undertones of ‘debate’ - Yahoo! News
http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_theticket/20110427/ts_yblog_theticket/birth-certificate-wont-end-race-related-attacks-on-the-president

Understand what's really going on with Social Security and attempts to change the system

A friend forwarded to me a diatribe about former Sen. Alan Simpson and his supposed attack on Social Security. You can find it on Snopes.com.
Let me comment on this.
The Snopes info wasn't as thorough as some times. So let me add a few things.
When Social Security began, the average age at death was 63. So having benefits extending to 65 wasn't realistic. Today, the average age at death is something like 85. Quite a few years after retirement -- to be paid for by our children and grandchildren! Because, as you probably will recall reading about, current Social Security payments have paid for the older people then retired! Our money was promptly used, we don't have a savings account like Chile does. The GOP tried to get this savings-account system set up several years ago, but it was shot down.

Also, in the early years, something like 17 workers' Social Security payments paid for each retiree. Now there are only 2 or 3 workers payments available for paying for each current retiree. So the system is in dire need of revamping. Simpson was one of the two tasked with figuring out how to reduce the trillions of dollars that the U.S. is in debt to others (mainly the Chinese). He wasn't personally responsible for the current system vis a vis what Congresscritters get. Moreover, he wasn't in Congress for 50 years,but for 18!
So instead of excoriating him, praise him for trying to keep the U.S. from going bankrupt, and thus leaving retirees with nothing.

A friend sent me the article from the Wall Street Journal,

Are Rome's Last Days a Distant Mirror for America?

It's at http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704312504575619143718091672.html

It starts

"The disturbing aspects of this moment in history are the striking similarities between America's current direction and events that took place in the late stages of the Roman Empire. Rome was the world's only superpower in the late second century, A.D.; 100 years later, Rome was terminally ill, weakened first by internal corruption and unsustainable spending and then destroyed by the emergence of multipolar contenders for power."

I recommend reading the full article. The situations aren't identical, but the Roman experience sure gives one pause for thought! I read a very good book by Kevin Phillips (I think it was Wealth and Democracy), on how superpowers don't remain so. He was talking about Holland, then England, and now the U.S., more than Rome. He's written other good books, including American Dynasty, about four generations of the Bushes, and what they've done to the U.S.

I recommend you read both of these books, if you want a greater understanding of the current world.

 

Solving the Israeli-Arab dispute

A friend emailed me about a YouTube video where a man was giving his view of the history of the Israeli-Arab conflict. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=63hTOaRu7h4 I enjoyed the history lesson. However, my understanding is that Egypt and Jordan have both accepted Israel's right to exist, and have diplomatic relations with it. This happened over ten years ago.

It was interesting to hear that the Arabs have never ruled Palestine (modern-day Israel). Hello? The Arabs ruled all that land, as well as Spain, Portugal, and other areas of Europe, for at least a couple of hundred years. They were finally pushed out just before 1492. One of Queen Isabella's first actions, as the first native monarch in centuries, was to fund Christopher Columbus.

The solution to the Israeli-Arab conflict isn't easy to get to. In one way, it makes sense to have the Hebrews have their country where it was 2000 years ago. But their ancestors ruthlessly killed the Canaanites (including babies smashed against walls) who had been there first. The Jews' prophets told them that their God told them to do so because He was giving the land to "His" people (that was their interpretation, not really God's word). It wasn't until centuries later that the Hebrews realized that there was only one God. Ooops! They had killed some of His creation to take over the land. "Oh, well, never mind!"

Then, after two thousand years of persecution from Christians, the Allies gave part of ancient Israel to the survivors of the Holocaust. The Arabs urged that the new Israel should be in Europe, probably Germany, taken from those who had almost exterminated the Jews. However, the Jews wanted to return to Israel ("next year in Jerusalem" was a cry repeated for generations). So they fought the Arabs who didn't want them there.

The Jews weren't all sweetness and light, they killed a number of civilians, and took over houses owned for many years by Arabs. One of the long-standing controversies is "the right of return" of the people who fled. By now, most of these refugees have died of old age, but their children continue to want to return, just like the Jews had done for long dark centuries.

But the Israelis are concerned because, even without the right of return, the Arabs living in Israel have reproduced more than the Jewish Israelis. Thus the Jewish state is on the verge of being a minority-Jewish democracy even if those pushed out more than half a century ago never get back to their old homes.

Moreover, the Israelis have done some less than honorable things, like evicting Arab owners of lands, tearing up centuries-old olive trees, and building apartments for Jews -- and basically having an open-air prison in the Palestinian parts.

What is interesting is that the same Christians who refused to let a ship full of Jewish refugees from Hitler's crematoria land in the U.S., now claim that the Israelis can do no wrong. And why is that? Because those fundamentalist Christians believe that the Israelis have to be in control of that land for Jesus to return for the Second Coming!

So I hope, those who read this, that I'm just reminding you of things you already knew, and thus you realize that the video is far from adequate.

 

Muslims worshipping on NYC streets doesn't threaten Christians or U.S.

A friend of mine forwarded an email up in arms because Muslim adherents have been worshipping in the streets outside three NYC mosques because there was no room for them inside. I'm responding to that email:

"A Christian Nation"

This isn't a Christian Nation. This is a nation that includes a lot of Christians, but the nation is secular -- the First Amendment guarantees it!

"cannot put up a Christmas scene of the baby Jesus in a public place,"

but such a scene can be any place somebody wants it, and the owner of the property okays it, providing it is not a government-owned place.

"but the Muslims can stop normal traffic every Friday afternoon by worshiping in the streets... "

This would be wrong whether it is done by Muslims, Protestants, Catholics, Buddhists, etc. The police should clear the sidewalks and the streets. It's not safe, and it's interfering with others just trying to get somewhere. Please notice that the reason that the police haven't done this to non-Muslims is that these religions don't have as many adherents! 

"Something is happening in America that is reminiscent of what is happening in Europe. This is Political Correctness gone crazy.  "

And what is "happening" in Europe? Way too vague! 

"With regard to that one [the proposed mosque near Ground Zero], the "Imam" refuses to disclose where the $110 million dollars to build it is coming from and there is a lawsuit filed to force disclosure of that information."

Why should that info be revealed? Does the Catholic or Episcopal churches reveal such? Yes, it's possible that some nefarious radical group is funding it, but why? They use the money they get for weapons, IUDs, etc.! Unless you think that, once the mosque is built, they'll tunnel from it to Ground Zero -- and do what?

"Is there a message here????  Yes, there is, and they are claiming America for Allah.  If we don't wake up soon, we are going to "politically correct" ourselves right out of our own country!"

Let me get this straight. It's okay for Christians to "claim" America for God, but it's not all right for other religions to do so for their god? Even though the First Amendment guarantees freedom of and from religion?

Response to Open "You scare me" Letter to Pres. Obama

A friend recently forwarded an essay (really an open letter to Pres. Barack Obama)  from Lou Pritchett, who has been an executive with Proctor & Gamble. The email included a link to Snopes.com, which reported that this was a legitimate essay.

I'll comment on the essay's points:

You scare me because after months of exposure, I know nothing about you.

 You scare me because I do not know how you paid for your expensive 
 Ivy League education and your upscale lifestyle and housing with no 
 visible signs of support.

The news has given accounts of Obama's life. Perhaps more could be written, but if the writer, Lou Pritchett, doesn't know anything, it's because he's chosen not to learn. For example, Obama worked as a community organizer before he got enough money to go to Harvard Law School. He and Michelle both had sizable loans to pay off after they graduated  She eventually got a good job as an executive with a hospital. I suspect that they had help, probably from the Daley machine, in getting where they got. But they also worked hard.

You scare me because you did not spend the formative years of youth 
 growing up in America and culturally you are not an American

Obama spent several years in Indonesia as a young child, but most of his life he has lived in the U.S. He mainly lived with his grandparents, who were white, and lived their lives in the U.S. So he is culturally American.

You scare me because you have never run a company or met a payroll.

Most presidents have not, either. Bush the younger was involved in companies, but never the manager.

 

You scare me because you have never had military experience, thus   don't understand it at its core. That is true about other presidents (such as Clinton), as well as most of Congress. George W. Bush was technically in the military, but his family kept him from actually being in harm's way.    You scare me because you lack humility and 'class', always blaming others. Oh? Give examples. And also give examples where previous presidents didn't blame others! This is one of many attacks, by Pritchett and by others, where they make vague accusations against Obama, with no proof. These people hope to get citizens upset by such generalizations. it's like saying "he's against apple pie" (without knowing it to be so), expecting knee-jerk reactions because "every American" likes apple pie. You scare me because for over half your life you have aligned   yourself with radical extremists who hate America and you refuse to   publicly denounce these radicals who wish to see  America fail.. Yes, it's odd that he hasn't stayed away from, and denounced, the extremist from the 60s, and his minister for twenty years. However, Rev. Wright isn't wanting to see America fail, he's just more than fed up with the way most white Americans treat most blacks.    You scare me because you are a cheerleader for the 'blame America '   crowd and deliver this message abroad.   I know he's done this several times. That's wrong, as he did it; but it's good to have humility and acknowledge our faults, too, don't you think? People in other countries are fed up with our "Americans always know best, and we'll tell you what to do."    You scare me because you want to change America to a European style   country where the government sector dominates instead of the private sector.   I completely agree with that!  You scare me because you want to replace our health care system  with a government controlled one. Yup, I agree with the writer here. But we should be scared of all the Democrats that have wanted this, not just Obama!  You scare me because you prefer 'wind mills' to responsibly  capitalizing on our own vast oil, coal and shale reserves. It should be obvious to everyone that our reserves are no longer vast, and that the acquisition, transportation, and use of oil and gas cause unacceptable pollution (air and rivers, as well as the Gulf oil spill and other spills). Thus we need wind mills, solar power, and every other kind of energy. Obama isn't "preferring" wind mills, which are far from ready to provide enough power, but he is prudent to push development of all kinds of energy.  You scare me because you want to kill the American capitalist goose  that lays the golden egg which provides the highest standard of  living in the world. Yup. But Obama isn't alone in this. Obama and other liberal Democrats see government as the answer to every problem. The "American capitalist goose" has provided a lot of good, but also a lot of problems. America has many people who have fallen out of the middle class, or never been able to rise that high, because of some people wanting ever more power and wealth. Some of these people contribute to both Democrats and Republicans, most of whom vote accordingly.  You scare me because you have begun to use 'extortion' tactics  against certain banks and corporations. That scares me, too -- but, again, it's Obama and the Democrats!    You scare me because your own political party shrinks from  challenging you on your wild and irresponsible spending proposals. The Democrats aren't shrinking from challenging him -- they're in it with him!  You scare me because you will not openly listen to or even consider  opposing points of view from intelligent people. Oh, really? Give examples. But certainly the Democrats have shown this, by having committee meetings that exclude Republican congresspeople.  You scare me because you falsely believe that you are both  omnipotent and omniscient. Come on, now! Give even one example of where Obama has shown this! And certainly no president thinks of himself as "omnipotent" with even his own party not kowtowing, much less leaders in other governments!  You scare me because the media gives you a free pass on everything  you do. It's certainly true that the media isn't doing much in the way of investigative journalism these days. They also gave both Clinton and George W. free passes, when there were many reasons to investigate thoroughly. There are several reasons for these free passes, among them 1) there are only five media groups in the world, now. The owners don't have any reason to rock the boat, since it's easier to donate to Congresscritters. Moreover, their involvement might come to light with thorough investigations. 2) the Internet provides a lot of information; alas, it's not all accurate.  You scare me because you demonize and want to silence the  Limbaugh's, Hannity's, O'Reillys and Becks who offer opposing  conservative points of view. Again, give examples!  You scare me because you prefer controlling over governing. Once more: give examples! I can see it with the health-care changes, where government will control choices. But give more examples, including where he has been against governing.  Finally, you scare me because if you serve a second term I will  probably not feel safe in writing a similar letter in 8 years. I'm concerned about this, too! But only because the Democrats will support him. One bright spot is that some of the experts predict that enough Democrats will lose in the House races to evict Pelosi. Therefore many liberal Democrat dreams of taking away liberties will be thwarted -- at least for two years!  This letter was sent to the NY Times but they never acknowledged it.  Big surprise. Since it hit the internet, however, it has had over  500,000 hits. One reason could be how very long it is. Every newspaper has limited space, and allows only a few hundred words for a letter. But NYT could have printed it as a guest editorial on the Op Ed page, if asked. Keep it going. All that is necessary for evil to succeed  is that good men do nothing. It's happening right now.* And not just with this essay. We all have to be vigilant, and loud in protest!

 

Comment on Health-care system in trouble, says hospital spokeswoman

A friend emailed me about 76684-healthcare.wmv

I replied:

Very interesting. This isn't just some anonymous email that you can't determine whether or not it's accurate. Unless these people are excellent actors, this is true.

The questions include

• why aren't the Feds interested in returning these illegals to their home countries?
• how much would health-care costs go down for the rest of us if our hospitals didn't have to accommodate these illegals who aren't paying anything?

Please note that most illegals do pay something; but since they (and many poor people who aren't illegals) use emergency rooms, which are far more costly than private clinics, the losses to the health-care system is much higher than would otherwise be the case.

Don't you think we didn't need the health-care changes the Democrats in Congress forced on us; we just need better thought on such things as this brings out?