tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1990338437877873686.post7993491738007406348..comments2024-03-27T17:03:57.341-04:00Comments on Murder is Everywhere: Book tour hiatus: Smart politicsOvidia Yuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05749549092493567689noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1990338437877873686.post-8272615088064647812011-10-08T20:31:26.597-04:002011-10-08T20:31:26.597-04:00I agree with a lot of the previous post about educ...I agree with a lot of the previous post about education, health care, etc.<br /><br />I do think the majority of people, thankfully, are for poor and unemployed and low-wage working people to get health care. The 50 million who have no health insurance would agree, those on Medicaid would agree, and some on Medicare would agree -- those who don't have a "me first and only me" attitude.<br /><br />On jobs, the problem is that corporations and banks which have money aren't hiring. Young people are in the highest unemployed category.<br /><br />Even college graduates now, who have tens of thousands of dollars in debt, due to the high cost of an education, have no job prospects.<br />They're angry and disappointed and expect much more than they're getting.<br /><br />That's what is fueling part of the Occupy Wall Street protests, and the growing income disparities, the haves and have-nots is spurring more people nationally to protest.<br /><br />This is only going to expand and deepen as more people are hurt here, in Europe and elsewhere.kathy d.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1990338437877873686.post-66567500082915312762011-10-07T11:06:25.036-04:002011-10-07T11:06:25.036-04:00As said by the previous poster, economic equality,...As said by the previous poster, economic equality, jobs, and housing should be solved. Unfortunately, the United States, with all its wealthy, has a miserable history with regard to addressing those issues.<br /><br />Suggest economic equality and, immediately, someone starts screaming about socialism. Being aware of the social gap in education, jobs, housing, and the fundamental needs of everyone gets a politician labeled as un-American. Witness the health care debacle. Seemingly most Americans don't think they have an obligation to the sick and the dying. Could there be anything more revolting than the reaction of the audience at the mention of the man who was dying because he didn't have health insurance? Does anyone think that the health care received by Steve Jobs wasn't paid for out of his own pocket?<br /><br />Housing is hampered by the NIMBY mentality. Not in my back yard eliminates any creative use of the housing left empty, that becomes direlict because the neighbors are terrified that offering housing to "undesirables",i.e.the poor will reduce the value of their homes. Can anything reduce the value of housing in a neighborhood that has housing left empty for years? The housing issue effects everything. When a child lives in a situation that requires frequent moves, the child is changing schools as well as address. The lack of continuity in schooling plays havoc with a child's ability to learn; they are too concerned about the fragility of their place in society.<br /><br />Lack of education means lack of jobs. One of the announced candidates for the Republican nomination for president suggested that unemployment can be corrected if those who collect unemployment were required to attend classes so that they could become the computer scientists we need desperately. He clearly has no idea just how far behind we are if he thinks ninety-nine days of training will make someone qualified for job in nano-techology.<br /><br />To our shame and the bewilderment of every other country in the world, we live in a political atmosphere in which the political party not represented in the executive branch has been clear that their goal is to make the president fail. If you don't listen to Rush Limbaugh, don't start now. If you do, why do you accept the hate and venom he spews everyday? The failure of the president is a failure of government and a betrayal of the people who most depend on the assistance of the many. Supporting the local food pantry is a good and necessary thing but it can't possibly replace programs that people can count on. If you know you can put dinner on the table tonight that is nutritious, then thank God for it.<br /><br />Every point Stan makes in this post is about the majority of people in South Africa putting country first. The US doesn't have a Nelson Mandela because party, people, and prosperity are secondary to the country rallying around a leader. The US doesn't have a Desmond Tutu because, should anyone be offered as the moral center, the majority would scream about separation of church and state. The people who would scream the loudest as those that have the least understanding about what that part of the Constitution means. It doesn't mean that religion doesn't belong in the lives of the people or that religious leaders cannot have the same right to freedom of speech. It was put into the Constitution to guarantee that their would be no state religion, that everyone would have to belong to the same church or risk punishment. Freedom of religion guarantees that no one can be forced to participate in a religious group of, if they choose to do so, they can actually choose. Quoting the number of an amendment to bolster a political platform doesn't mean much if there the quoters aren't familiar with the history behind the amendment.Bethhttp://www.murderbytype.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1990338437877873686.post-22598999295333471752011-10-06T15:20:00.946-04:002011-10-06T15:20:00.946-04:00Nelson Mandela is an amazing person. If I asked m...Nelson Mandela is an amazing person. If I asked my friends or even people I just meet who is the main hero in the world today, they would say Mandela.<br /><br />The TRC is very controversial among many in South Africa and elsewhere. Since I did not live there under the horrific apartheid regime, I should say that it was up to the people who were the most oppressed who should have decided this question. <br /><br />The movie about Donald Woods and Steven Biko showed the brutal beating and murder by the police of Biko. That alone should have merited heavy sentences for his torturers.<br /><br />However, I learned something from the marvelous movie Invictus that was starkly shown -- that Mandela was trying to stop a civil war led by the former apartheid forces, including those who had been in the state apparatus.<br /><br />That he incorporated former apartheid security guards into his staff, in spite of opposition by his appointees -- and rightfully so, I'd say, was a strategic move.<br /><br />Everything he did was strategy,and of course, wanting to eradicate the horrors of apartheid and bring justice to his people.<br /><br />I wish that economic equality, jobs and housing would be solved, too.kathy d.noreply@blogger.com