Puget Sound Liberals Weekly Newsletter #106

Enhancing Freedom, Opportunity and Cooperation in Puget Sound and Beyond

Through informing and networking Liberals and Liberal Organizations.

 

Our vision is hundreds of thousands of well-informed Puget Sound Liberals working together.

 

January 25, 2008

 

 

 

 

 

Our Website                                                                            Our  Editor   

 

                        Table of Contents   * featured articles

 

Puget Sound Liberals

About Puget Sound Liberals

Opportunities, Petitions and Feedback

 

Commentaries from Our Members

Press Release from Linda Boyd

 

Liberals and Democrats Links to the Beef

Many Issues Are Ignored by Democratic Candidates*

Darcy Burner Opposes Earmarks*

 

State and Local  Links to the Beef

Condo Conversions and Affordable Housing*

Catholic Community Services’ Values

Seattle (NOW) – Values

Should Legislators Fund Education First?*

Why Washington Needs Universal Access to Health Care

A New Approach to Improving Access to Health Care*

 

Nation and World  Links to the Beef

What Type of Stimulus Does Our Economy Need?*

Which Bush Untruth Has Been Most Damaging?*

 

Our Liberal Spirit

Discontinuity and Escape*

 

Recommended Books

 

 

 

Our Political Priorities

 

·       Fair Clean Elections and Open Government

·       Fair Taxes and Competent Spending

·       Investment for Productivity

·       Quality Health, Education, Jobs, Income and Retirement

·       Environmental Protection and Energy Independence

·       Personal Security and Equal Rights

·       Justice and Peace Everywhere

·       International Cooperation and Leadership

 

Conservatives oppose all of these

 

     Let’s End Our National Nightmare

 

         Let’s Restore Our American Dream

 

 

More on Conservative opposition to our American Dream

 

See Nancy Pelosi’s political priorities

 

 

Quote of the Week

Fall seven times, stand up eight.  Japanese proverb

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


Calendar of Events

 

Friday, January 25 at 6:30 PM at Rick Hegdahl’s home (104 - 165th Avenue NE) – Lake Hills Liberals Salon, including Light Buffet and movie ‘Who Killed the Electric Car?’ and Discussion.  Bring beverage, fruit, cheese, crackers, etc

 

Friday, January 25 at 7 PM at King County Library Administration Building (960 Newport Way NW, Issaquah) – 5th Legislative District Movie Night Sicko, A film by Michael Moore on America’s failing health care system

 

Saturday, January 26 at 6:30 PM at Columbia City Gallery (4864 Rainier Avenue South, Seattle) – 37th Legislative District Democrats Wine Tasting and Preparation for Our Precinct Caucuses, with Ron Sims, Adam Kline, Sharon Tomiko Santos and Eric Pettigrew.  Please RSVP.

 

Monday, January 28 at 4 PM at Main Library (2702 Hoyt Avenue, Everett) – Puget Sound Regional Council Destination 2030 Update Scoping meeting

 

Friday, February 1 at 6:30 PM at the Rainier UU Center (4802 South Othello Street, Seattle) – Friday Earth Forum, featuring light snack, conversation and movie ‘The LA Bus Riders Union’.  For more.

 

Wednesday, February 6 at 5:30 PM and February 7 at Hilton Seattle (1301 6th Avenue, Seattle) – Emily’s List Candidate Training for Democratic Pro-Choice Women.  For more information.

 

Saturday, February 9 at 10 AM at Kirkland City Hall (123 Fifth Avenue, Kirkland) – 48th District Legislators town meeting.  REMEMBER to attend your Democratic Presidential Caucuses afterwards!

 

Saturday February 9, 2008 at 1:30 – Democratic Precinct Caucuses.  Find your caucus location.


Sunday, February 10 at 7 PM at University of Washington Kane Hall Room 120 – Panel: The Effects of Uninsuranace on our Communities, with Jim McDermott, Mike Kreidler, and Brent Asplin, sponsored by Physicians for a National Health Program, Western Washington Chapter

 

Saturday, February 16 at 1 PM at East Shore Unitarian Universalist Church (12700 SE 32nd Street, Bellevue) -  Paul Loeb (Seattle author of Soul of a Citizen, Living with Conviction in a Cynical Time) will speak.  A follow up discussion group will meet on the following 3 Tuesdays at 7 PM.

 

Saturday, February 16 at 6 PM at Town Hall (1119 – 8th Avenue, Seattle) – Americans United for Separation of Church and State presents an evening with Michael Weinstein, author of With God on Our Side who is concerned with church-state issues confronting military personnel.

 

Saturday, February 23-24 at IBEW Hall (19802 62nd Ave S, Kent) – Democracy for America Grassroots Training, sponsored by Darcy Burner.  For more.  For more.

 

Saturday, March 22 at 10 AM at Bellevue City Hall (450 110th Avenue NE, Bellevue) – 48th District Legislators town meeting

 

Washington State Caucus and Convention Schedule

Legislative District Conventions - Saturday April 5, 2008
County Conventions - Saturday April 19, 2008
Congressional District Conventions - Saturday May 17, 2008
Washington State Convention - June 14 & 15, 2008 - Spokane, Washington

 

 

 

Opportunities, Petitions and Feedback

 

Opportunities

 

Join Working America in alliance with labor union members

 

See MoveOn’s new online tools.

 

Order Democracy in America ‘Precinct Organizing’ and other Night School Training videos

 

Still time to register for February 1-3, 2008 Camp Wellstone Portland

 

Order Sightline’s 2007 Cascadia Scorecard.  See other research that they share with our politicians.

 

Order Lester Brown’s Plan B, #3.0, Mobilizing to Save Civilization.  For more.

 

Learn about micro-targeting for political campaigns.

 

Learn about Working Assets, a phone company that donates to liberal advocacy groups.

 

Join GoPetition to easily create your own petitions. Great tool for advocacy groups.

 

Petitions and Donations

 

Join congressman Wexler’s call for supporting Dennis Kucinich’s bill to impeach Dick Cheney.  (video)

 

Sign a petition to presidential candidates, asking them to close the buyout industries tax loopholes.

 

Ask Wolf Blitzer and Tim Russert to ask about global warming in presidential forums called debates.

 

Petition top lenders to stop preying on sub prime mortgage borrowers.

 

Send a petition to your congress members to support economic stimulus focused on people who need it the most and will spend it the fastest.

 

Ask the Bureau of Land Management to protect Utah lands from mining and ORVs.

 

Ask your state legislator to enact public oversight over insurance rate increases.

 

Petition Governor Gregoire and your state legislators to support expansion of gay rights.

 

Feedback Needed Concerning Our Website

 

We have decided to not offer a blog, since there are many excellent northwest blogs.  We want to offer a discussion (bulletin) board.  Do you know of any inexpensive discussion board software?  Please email me your suggestions.  Dave Thomas

 

Commentaries >From Our Members

 

Press Release from Linda Boyd

SJM 8016 PASSED COMMITTEE VOTE!  Senator Eric Oemig's bill, SJM 8016, asking Congress to impeach George Bush and Richard Cheney was voted to proceed out of the Senate Gov't and Op's Committee today.  It will now proceed to the Senate Rules Committee.

 

What:  SJM 8016-2007-08,  Senator Oemig's revised petition calling for a full investigation and trial of alleged misdeeds by President Bush and Vice President Cheney passed a vote in the  Senate Government and Operations Committee.

 

When: Monday, January 21, 2008. Where:  State Capitol Campus in Olympia, 426-14th Ave. SW, Olympia, Washington 98504

Committee Chair: Senator Darlene Fairley (D) , Bill sponsor and vice chair: Senator Eric Oemig (D), Committee members voting in favor of SJM 8016:  Senator Eric Oemig , Senator Darlene Fairley, Senator Adam Kline; Senator Joe McDermott;  Senator Craig Pridemore 

 

SJM 8016 2007-08, revised for 2008, calls on Congress to initiate impeachment hearings for the President and Vice President.  The bill, first introduced Feb. 15, 2007, was heard before the Senate Government Operations and Elections Committee on March 31st,  2007 with over 500 pro-impeachment citizens in attendance.  The bill cites serious allegations of misdeeds by the Office of the Executive.  It includes a long list of violations to the US Constitution, including domestic wiretapping, manipulating intelligence to mislead the Congress and the people about the reasons for attacking Iraq, Torture and extraordinary rendition, and subverting the rule of law.   The bill states that, " The citizens of Washington state expect and require their highest elected officials be subject to the laws of the land, like any citizen, and uphold the constitutional oath taken by them upon assuming office."

 

Rep. Maralyn Chase authored a companion bill in the WA State House, HJM 4027, cosigned by Rep. Hasegawa, Rep. Moeller and Rep. Dickerson.  It has been referred to the House Government and Tribal Affairs Committee.  No hearing has been scheduled yet in the House.

 

“All of us took an oath to defend and protect the Constitution of the United States.  This memorial is how we tell history, and the rest of the world, that we do not sanction illegal war, we do not sanction unlawful spying, and we do not sanction torture.  This memorial is how we honor our oath and protect our great country.”    Senator Eric Oemig, January 17, 2008

 

"State Legislatures have a long standing tradition of sending requests to Congress,"  says Linda Boyd, Director of Washington For Impeachment, "Articles of impeachment against Dick Cheney were introduced by Congressman Kucinich in the US House in April.  The citizens of Washington State are proud of their strong legislators, and call on Congress to simply investigate serious allegations regarding abuses of power in the Office of the Executive."  Linda Boyd

 

I don’t know who Eridani is or whether she is a member.  But her comment on Washblog is correct.

 

Liberals and Democrats

 

Many Issues Are Ignored by Democratic Candidates

 

Our Democratic candidates are appearing together at many forums.  But they are ignoring many important issues.  Partly this is because the moderators of the forums are primarily raising issues concerning which they hope to provoke controversy among the candidates.  But even their campaign speeches and their proposals on their websites largely neglect the following issues. 

 

Perhaps because they don’t think them important.  Perhaps because they don’t think our voters care.  Perhaps because they think their views will be unpopular.  Nevertheless, we need to know the extent to which our candidates care about these issues, what they think about them and what they would do.

 

·       What global governance do we need to control conflicts between and within nations and to regulate globalization to our benefit?  How should we reform our United Nations and other global organizations?  What role should our government play in this reform.

·       What role should our United States play to minimize global warming and other environmental challenges?  What changes should we make. What global changes should we work with others to make.

·       How should the Israeli colonization of Palestine be ended?  What role should our United States and other parties play?

·       How should we act toward Arab and other dictatorships?  What carrots and sticks should we use? 

·       What should we do about are farm subsidies and other economic and trade policies which negatively affect the workers of other countries?  What should we do about immigration?

·       What role should our armed forces play.  Toward what objectives should they be used?  What type and size of our armed forces are needed to achieve these objectives?  How do we avoid the waste that comes from preparing to fight previous wars, of types that are unlikely today?  How do we avoid the hidden costs of our military, such as environmental pollution and dealing with long term injuries to our troops.

·       What should we do to encourage innovation, both at home and abroad? 

·       What legislation do we need to restore our civil liberties that have been weakened by our fear of terrorists and by technological change?

 

These are issues that have been largely neglected so far.  There are others that haven’t come to mind?  We should attempt to stimulate our candidates to address them.  This would be more likely to occur if we had more political parties to take positions on these issues.  Dave Thomas

 

 

Darcy Burner Opposes Earmarks

 

In response to my question at our January 48th Legislative District Democrats meeting, Darcy Burner said that she opposes earmarks, doesn’t intend to use them, and will attempt to persuade other congress members to also oppose them.  This would be a welcome contrast to most Congress members, including all of our Washington Democratic Congress members, who frequently reward their campaign contributors by requiring government departments to buy things they don’t want.  Another reason to support Darcy Burner.

 

There are better ways to get votes than by using earmarks.  There are better ways to fund campaigns than by becoming indebted to private campaign contributors.  We should hope our legislators would focus upon mobilizing opinion to support legislation that increases our freedoms and opportunities.  And then upon passing such legislation.  Dave Thomas

 

Here’s the Beef

 

See what strategies presidential candidates are using to win on Super Tuesday and beyond.

 

Video of Barack Obama's sermon at Dr. King's church on Sunday, January 20, 2008

 

An example of Conservative bad mouthing of Barack Obama.  As he wins, much more can be expected.

 

Is Hillary Clinton’s campaign swift–boating Barack Obama?  Read about her corporate ties.

 

Read about Bush Dog Democratic congressional members who support Bush on important issues.

 

State and Local  

 

Condo Conversions and Affordable Housing

 

On Friday, January 18th, our Seattle PI published a letter by Ron Moe-Lobeda which suggests that a law is needed to require developers of apartment conversions to condominiums to make 10% of the condos available at affordable housing prices.  Ron Moe-Lobeda also suggests that our state should allow our cities to pass laws to provide affordable housing. 

 

Providing time and money for relocation of apartment dwellers affected by condo conversions is important.  More important is providing affordable housing as a long term solution to reducing urban sprawl, commuting, traffic congestion, pollution, and increasing family time together.  Ron Moe-Lobeda’s suggestion adds a useful strategy to the many strategies that we need to use to increase affordable housing.

 

I wish I could get the writers of Liberal letters to our newspapers to join our Puget Sound Liberals.  Will anyone volunteer to call them, ask them to join us, and obtain their email addresses.

 

Catholic Community Services’ Values

 

We believe in:

·       every child growing up in a safe, loving and nurturing environment.

·       healthy family life being affirmed and supported in our communities.

·       every person having the right to a safe, affordable place to call home.

·       compassion, love and respect for all people, especially those who are poor and vulnerable.

·       joining with others to change the systems which oppress, discriminate or otherwise cause human suffering.

·       employees and volunteers working in an environment which offers respect, teamwork and excellence.

·       all these for all people, whatever their color, whatever language they speak or however they worship.

 

What do these add to our Liberal values, beyond specifying essential freedoms and opportunities? 

 

National Organization for Women (NOW) – Seattle Chapter’s Priorities

 

Advancing Reproductive Justice

BECAUSE OUR BODIES ARE OUR OWN.  NOW affirms that reproductive rights are issues of life and death for women, not mere matters of choice.  NOW fully supports affordable access to safe and legal abortion, to effective birth control and emergency contraception, to reproductive health services and education for all women.  NOW opposes restrictions and works to increase access through legislation, litigation, and direct action.

Ensuring Economic Justice

BECAUSE WE EARNED IT.  NOW fights for equality in jobs, pay, credit, education, insurance, fringe benefits, pensions, and Social Security -- through legislation, negotiation, labor organizing, education and litigation. NOW pledges to help women break through the "glass ceiling" of the executive suite, and break loose of the "sticky floor" -- the dead-end wage jobs that keep so many women in poverty.  NOW actively opposes punitive welfare laws that harm the most vulnerable women and children in our society.

Stopping Violence Against Women

BECAUSE WE SHOULD BE SAFE.  NOW is unique in its approach to the issue of violence against women, emphasizing that there are many interrelated aspects to the issue -- domestic violence; sexual assault; sexual harassment; violence against abortion clinics; hate crimes across lines of gender, sexuality and race; the gender bias in our judicial system that further victimizes survivors of violence; and the violence of poverty.

Winning Lesbian Rights

BECAUSE WE  LOVE WHO WE LOVE.  NOW is committed to fighting discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in all areas, including employment, housing, public accommodations, health services, child custody and military policies.  NOW supports educational efforts that combat the adverse effects of homophobia, promote positive images in the media and ultimately ensure civil rights protection.  NOW asserts the rights of lesbians, gay men, bisexuals and transgender people to live their lives with dignity and security, and the rights of equal marriage for all.

Promoting Diversity and Ending Racism

BECAUSE WE KNOW WE ARE ALL DIFFERENT.  NOW has always worked to eliminate discrimination and racism and to promote racial and ethnic diversity.  Recognizing that racism stands in the way of women's empowerment and full equality.  NOW pledges to fight to eradicate it in all of its forms, including individual attitudes and institutionalized racism.

Achieving Equality: Women in the Constitution

BECAUSE WE ARE STILL NOT EQUAL.  NOW's goals of full gender equality includes equal rights, equal treatment, and equal opportunities in every sphere of life.  Equality of rights for all women must be guaranteed in the U.S. constitution, so that we will not have to fight for each and every advance, and will not have to constantly defend the gains we have made.

 

What do these add to our Liberal values, beyond specifying essential freedoms and opportunities? 

 

Should Our State Legislators Fund Education First?

 

Some Conservatives have proposed that our State Legislators should fund education first.  We could then greatly improve our education. Preschool education.  Smaller class sizes.  Increased teacher salaries and training.  Extra resources for schools with students requiring extra attention. 

 

But then we would have too little money left for our other state services, of which health and human services are the largest part.  The only way to fund them adequately would be to increase taxes.  And the only way to fairly increase taxes is to introduce personal and corporate income taxes, which should also substitute in part for our regressive sales, property, utilities and business and occupation taxes.

 

As long as Conservatives are allowed to keep our tax system one which produces too little revenue, there is no solution for providing access to all our residents to quality public services.  To provide more money for some services is to reduce the money available to others.  Let's quit trying to rearrange the deck chairs.

 

Why Washington Needs Universal Access to Health Care

 

From section one of SB 6221:  The legislature finds that:

 

·       Nationally and locally health care costs are inflating faster than the consumer price index and wages;

·       Since 1980, health care costs have increased from nine percent to sixteen percent of the nation's gross domestic product, and are expected to exceed twenty percent by 2016;

·       Other industrialized nations provide universal health care coverage, but spend much less.  Some spend less than half as much per person;

·       In 2007, the average annual premium for family coverage was more than twelve thousand dollars, of which over three thousand dollars are paid by the worker;

·       In 2008, of Washingtonians under the age of sixty-five, over one million three hundred thousand will spend more than ten percent of their pretax family income on health care costs.  Eighty-four of these people have insurance;

·       Every thirty seconds, someone in this country files for bankruptcy in the aftermath of a serious health problem.  Of those who file for bankruptcy, sixty-eight percent had health insurance;

·       In Washington state, approximately thirty cents of every dollar received by hospitals and doctors' offices is consumed by the administrative expenses of the health plans and the providers.  Before the doctors and hospitals receive the funds for delivering the care, approximately fourteen percent of the insurance premium has already been consumed by health plan administration;

·       In 2006, hospitals, physicians, community clinics, and other providers spent a combined total of five hundred eighty-four million dollars in uncompensated care for the uninsured, a twenty-eight percent increase since 2002;

·       The institute of medicine estimates that between thirty and forty cents associated with every health care dollar is spent on costs of poor quality - overuse, underuse, misuse, duplication, system failures, unnecessary repetition, poor communication, and adverse events attributable to medical errors;

·       Rising costs have led to a decline in employer-provided health benefits.  In Washington, since 1993, employer-based coverage declined from seventy-one percent to sixty-five percent;

·       In 2007, fewer than half of small employers in Washington are able to offer coverage to their employees;

·       Rising costs are seriously threatening the physical and fiscal well-being of  Washingtonians, the ability of Washington businesses to compete globally, farms to thrive, government to provide needed services, schools to educate, and local citizens to form new and successful business ventures.

A New Approach to Improving Access to Health Care

 

Providing everyone access to health care must be done by our federal government and must not include the expense and red tape of using private insurers.  Our state government can only do a limited amount, especially if they include private insurers, as they have been doing in extending health insurance to children.

 

Our Washington state government might take another approach to extending access to health care.  Why not contract with 24/7 medical clinics providing basic primary care to provide their services on a sliding scale to lower income patients?  This would enable patients who now have no affordable access to primary care, to avoid delaying their care or sooner or later using expensive scarce emergency room services. 

 

This approach extends access to affordable primary health care.  When the 24/7 medical clinics identify serious illnesses, patients who qualify may be referred to Medicaid.  Some state subsidies might be provided to others or those who treat them.  It remains true that providing universal access cannot be provided by the state.  It must be done federally.  But substituting access to primary care clinics instead for emergency room visits and simply delaying treatment might be cost-beneficial.  A specific response to a specific well recognized problem.  Dave Thomas

 

Here’s the Beef

 

Dino Rossi’s State of the State Address debunked by Democrats (video).

 

Washington CAN 2008 Legislative Priorities

 

Lutheran Public Policy Office 2008 Washington State Legislative Priorities

 

Poverty Action Network 2008 Legislative Agenda

 

Washington State Coalition for the Homeless 2998 Legislative Agenda

 

ARCH – A Regional Coalition for Housing helps people buy affordable housing

 

How about a state single payer plan financed partly by employer contributions?

 

Nation and World

 

What Type of Stimulus Does Our Economy Need?

 

President Bush wants to include making his tax cuts for the rich permanent.  The best stimulus package would be for Bush and Cheney to resign.  Nancy Pelosi would become president and many actions would occur to stimulate our economy.  But this won’t happen.

 

Our congress will likely find tax cuts too popular to resist.  So we can expect tax cuts, with the Democrats and Republicans arguing how much to cut taxes for lower and moderate income people and how much for higher income people and businesses.  Our slowing economy is due to lack of demand, not supply.  So there is no need for tax cuts for businesses.

 

But if done quickly, increased government investing in our physical and social infrastructure would be more beneficial than tax cuts to increase individual consumption.  John Edwards has been the first (over a month ago) to propose an investment stimulus package.  "To help middle class families get ahead over the long haul, we need to invest in a clean energy infrastructure that will create jobs now and pay economic dividends for decades to come. A helping hand to families facing foreclosure, states in the midst of budget crises, and long-term unemployed workers will cushion the blow to struggling families and prevent further economic damage.”  For more.

 

Barack Obama’s proposals omit investments in our infrastructure and add tax cuts.  Hillary Clinton’s proposals focus upon providing money to people affected by high energy costs, foreclosures, and unemployment.  For Paul Krugman’s comparison and commentary of both the stimulus proposals of both the Republican and Democratic presidential candidates.  For more.  For the best analysis of which stimulus package would stimulate demand while also assisting those who need help the most.  Barbara Ehrenreich calls for money for the poor.   Besides spending it quickly, they most need it.

 

To restore the American Dream, enhance our social and physical infrastructure and provide spending power to our poor, we much shift funds from our military spending which is unnecessary and a temptation to conduct wars, backed by our Military Industries and Congress members representing districts where these industries are located.

 

Also see the argument that interest rates are already at historically low levels, so cutting them more may not help our economy.  They primarily help companies that borrow, banks that lend and increase our stock prices, primarily to the advantage of wealthy stock owners.  Only secondarily will they help some households with debts with indexed interest rates.

 

Which Bush Untruth Has Been Most Damaging?

 

Bush has expressed untruths about the:

 

·       Effects of his tax cuts on our economy and Federal budget

·       Being a Uniter

·       Weapons of mass destruction in Iraq  See more.  And more.

·       Iraqi reaction to our occupation of Iraq

·       Preventing anti-American terrorism (War on Terrorism)

·       Support democracy in the Mid-East

·       Competence of FEMA’s response to Katrina

·       And much more. 

 

Which do you think have harmed our United States the most?

 

Rich Erwin has suggested that besides impeachment, we might also have a Truth Commission to investigate the Bush administrations actions, similar to ones that have been held in South Africa and other countries.  The two purposes of truth commissions have been to emphasize what will no longer be tolerated (which is the main reason behind impeachment efforts) and to allow the re-entry of past transgressors who confess and recant.  The first purpose is the one that would be paramount here. 

 

A Truth Commission could easily get out of hand.  For example, it could extend back before the Bush administration to the end of World War II, which would deal with both Democratic and Republican untruths and assumptions in conducting both Cold War and other foreign policy and domestic policy.  It quickly becomes obvious that Liberals and Conservatives would differ concerning their understanding of which issues are relevant and what is untrue.  It would also be difficult to question our conventional wisdom.  Find much more by googling ‘United States Truth Commission’. 

 

This whole topic is worth thinking about.  Not just Bush’s untruths.  But our whole ability to define truth.  How does our conventional wisdom contain untruths?  What role do our politicians, our media and our people play in promulgating truths and untruths.  I hope some of you will comment. 

 

We could also raise the question, “Which Bush administration incompetencies (Iraq occupation, response to Katrina, and others) have been most damaging?”    Dave Thomas

 

Here’s the Beef

 

Twenty states use voting machines that can’t be recounted or audited.

 

Bye bye regulation.  Hello fraud, corruption, bubbles and collapse.

 

Economic stimulus won’t work.  Because people still couldn’t afford to spend.  They’ll pay off debts.

 

Administration economic stimulus rewards business, but ignores many poor.  Result is little stimulus.

 

Economic stimulus through public investment more fiscally responsible than through tax cuts.

 

What role do banking deregulation and Iraq Occupation expenditures play in stimulating stagflation?

 

Architecture 2030 challenges our architecture & building community to design for less global warming.

 

Bye bye topsoil.  Bye bye water.

 

Navy sonar yes.  Whales no.

 

Israel creates humanitarian crisis in Gaza.  For more.  For more.

 

U.S. stops U.N. Security Council resolution condemning Israeli for blocking Gaza humanitarian aid.

 

Hugo Chavez is building Venezuela’s social economy.  Read the ‘Social Economy’ Section

 

9.7 million infants and children still die yearly, many in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa.

 

45,000 people die in Congo War each month.  5.4 million have died during last 10 years.

 

Our Liberal Spirit

 

Discontinuity and Escape

 

When we dream, we experience pain.  The pain that our dream may not yet be realized.  That it will be a struggle to realize.  That if realized, it may become unrealized.  We are often tempted to escape this pain.  We may try to avoid our dream, its obstacles and the strategies and tactics necessary to realize it.  We all know many ways to escape: sleep, gossip, television, mind numbing drugs, handicrafts and other hobbies, physical exercise.  These are not necessarily escapes.  Only if they are used to avoid thinking about our dreams and the necessary efforts to realize them.

 

At the other extreme, we can suffer if we focus too much upon a dream and achieving it.  We humans are not good at long marches.  We need discontinuities.  We need to change our attention from one dream to another, or simply to some immediately satisfying activity.  We need a balance between immediate gratification and investment in delayed gratification.

 

Besides recharging our energy, we often experience serendipity when switching from activity to another and from one set of thoughts to another.  Something in one set of thoughts offers a new perspective to another.  We have all experienced solving a problem while we rest in bed after struggling a long time while focusing upon it.  We need discontinuity, but not escape.

 

Recommended Books – See our list of books for liberals

 

Thomas Friedman, 2002, Longitudes and Attitudes, The World in the Age of Terrorism

 

I agree with Thomas Friedman about many things.  I disagree with Thomas Friedman about many things.  He has clarified the many benefits of globalizations.  But he has not emphasized enough the costs of globalization, to both our less developed and more developed countries, including our own.  He has clarified many aspects of our Middle East situation.  But he has not emphasized enough the evils of Israeli colonialism.  He has predicted much of the chaos which resulted from our occupation of Iraq.  But he has still given support to our occupation of Iraq.

 

Particularly accurate was his portrayal on page 274 of what might happen after we occupied Iraq, as follows:

“Think of it this way:  If and when we take the lid off Iraq, we will find an envelope inside.  It will tells us what we have won and it will say one of two things.

It could say, “Congratulations, you’ve just won the Arab Germany – a country with enormous human talent, enormous natural resources, but with an evil dictator, whom you have just removed.  Now, just add a little water, a spoonful of democracy and stir, and this will be a normal country very soon.

 

Or the envelope could say, “You’ve just won the Arab Yugoslavia – an artificial country congenitally divided among Kurds, Shiites, Sunnis, Nasserites, leftists, and a host of tribes and clans that can only be held together with a Saddam-like iron fist.  Congratulations, you’re the new Saddam.”

 

 

 

 

Free Member Advertising

 

Hire Our Lake Hills Neighbors

 

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·       Housekeeper, price negotiable – Laura Montano (641-5038 ambar_lau@hotmail.com)

·       Psychotherapist, accepts insurance -  Sandy Mathews (462-7889, www.sandramathews.com)

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·       Home Repair- prices vary, depending on job- John Pacheco 425-653-3565 johnpacheco01@yahoo.com)

·       Auto Repair, price varies depending on job (but always fair), Jaime Speicher (AAS Auto Repair Technician) (425-746-2353)

·       Home Repair and Remodeling, Rick Hegdahl (206-227-6280  vikingnw@comcast.net)

·       Life Support Therapies, Astara Burlingame RN. (MD) holistic care, acupuncture hypno therapy, biological medicines (206-370-0356)

 

Volunteers and Donations Wanted

 

·         Healthy Start needs women volunteers to mentor young mothers,  especially  Spanish speaking volunteers – Karen Wilson (karenw@chs-wa.org 425-895-9813). 

·         Head Start at Lake Hills Elementary School needs an operational computer for parents of one of their students.  If you have one a few years old that you no longer intend to use, call Valery Stoury at 456-5326  The low income families in the Lake Hills Head Start program also need furniture, food, clothing, bus passes or gas vouchers, etc.  Safeway and Fred Meyer gift certificates to be used for family emergencies would be greatly appreciated

·         Lake Hills Elementary School is looking for volunteers to spend one hour a week with individual students in the classroom or as a lunch buddy.  To volunteer, call our VIBES on-site coordinator, Mary Giesen (425-456-5300) to arrange required VIBES training.  For additional information, contact Principal Judy Buckmaster, (buckmasterj@bsd405.org)

·         Phantom Lake Elementary School needs volunteers who are willing to be trained as Reading Mentors or who are able to spend one hour, one day a week in the school either in classrooms, helping in the office, or being “Lunch Buddies” during our school’s lunch time.  To volunteer, call our VIBES on-site coordinator, Beth Drobny (425-456-5600) to arrange required VIBES training.  For additional information, contact Principal Tracy Maury (mauryt@bsd405.org

 

About Puget Sound Liberals

 

We began Lake Hills Liberals in October, 2005 as an experimental demonstration of creating neighborhoods where liberals thrive and multiply and maximizing our vote for Democratic candidates.  Many of our community development initiatives failed.  But we have encouraged block parties and house parties to allow neighbors to meet each other to be able to prevent crime, to assist each other in a disaster, and to protect and assist our children.  We also canvassed our 12 precincts to increase the number of identified likely Democratic voters from 33% to 90% and stimulated them to vote, which assisted election of our 2006 Democratic candidates.  We hope that replication will occur in other neighborhoods. 

 

Through our newsletter, we have now become Puget Sound Liberals to create well informed liberals who easily communicate, associate and cooperate to realize our liberal values.  Our weekly newsletter is currently distributed to 2200 members by email each Friday.

 

To get our free services, including our newsletter, our ‘Proud Liberal, Time for a Change’ yard signs or ‘Proud Liberal’ bumper stickers, volunteer or make a donation, contact Dave Thomas.    Please help your liberal friends to become well informed, by inviting them to receive our newsletter.  Just send us their name, email address, and residence (community, zip code and legislative district.) 

 

Submit your news to Editor Dave Thomas.  We are seeking reporter-reviewer-editors with knowledge of particular political groups and issues.   We have asked the following experts to help us.

Blogs –

        African Americans – Rob Holland

        Blogs – Rick Hegdahl and Brian Moran

        Campaign Finance – Sarajane Siegfriedt

        Democratic Party – Jeff Smith

        Drug Policy – Roger Goodman

        Education – Dennis Gerlitz, John Stokes

        Environment – Forest Gower

        Gays and Lesbians – Jack Greenlaw

        Health Care – Lisa Plymate, Bob Fithian, Chuck Richards  

        Hispanics – needed

        Immigration - Grosvenor Anschell

        Housing and Poverty – Sarajane Siegfriedt

        Labor Unions – Nancy Rising

        Law and Justice – Bill Sherman and Keith Scully

        State Legislation – Tina Shamseldin and Sarajane Siegfriedt

        Veterans – Steve Johnston

        Women’s Issues – Catherine Minch

 

Additional Resources

See our website at www.PugetSoundLiberals.org, with our basic training about being Liberal, our archive of all past newsletters, resources for liberals, tools for Democratic legislative district organizations  and more.  Join Fuse to connect with to other Liberals and more.

 

See Center for Progressive Action for archive of well researched daily news.  See Alternet and Common Dreams for archived liberal commentaries.   Read Real Clear Politics and Ashville Global Report.  Subscribe to Liberal Opinion for many more.  Also visit Nygaard Notes.  Open Left.

 

We recommend the Pacific NW Portal for displaying many blogs through which Northwest Liberals exchange their knowledge and opinions.  See also Lefty Blogs.  We recommend you go to Washblog to find blogs containing information and opinions about Washington issues and activities, without a lot of emotional outbursts. 

 

 

Learn about our State Democratic Party.   About 2008 Caucuses and Elections.  Quickly and easily contact your national and state officials.  For many Congressional Report Cards.  Report Card on your congress member.

 

To learn about particular issues, visit websites of advocacy and caring organizations.  Also see our list of helpful websites.  Craig’s List Seattle