Important Note:
Opinions are fun. My friends tell me I am someone with lots of opinions and that's fine since I don't get mad at others when they disagree with me. In this same spirit I am interested in hearing yours views as long as you are able to share your views without boiling over. I look forward to hearing from you. I tend to write in the form of short essays most of the time, but contributions do not need to be in this same format or size. Some of the content here will date itself pretty quickly, other content may be virtually timeless, this is for the reader to judge.
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One heck of a speech in Russia
Posted at: Mar/30/2014 : Posted by: mel
Related Category: Politics & Gov, World Watching,
Vladimir Putin's made a rousing address before Russian parliamentarians and officials a couple of days ago (March 18, 2014). The speech was in response to the fall of the Ukrainian government and the prompt annexation of the Crimean Peninsula by Russia under Putin’s leadership. Reading the translation of Putin’s speech, one could easily be lulled into the notion that the Russian people have been.....read more…
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Finding the agenda
Posted at: Mar/13/2014 : Posted by: mel
Related Category: Politics & Gov, Watching America,
Politics in America is an interesting beast. Throughout our brief history, our government’s legislative bodies have traditionally been dominated by two parties with a wide aisle between them. These political parties have changed over time and their agenda has evolved depending on challenges that our country has faced at any given time. The most recent manifestations of the Republican and Democr.....read more…
Is it Munich or Beijing all over again?
Posted at: Dec/05/2013 : Posted by: mel
Related Category: Historical Insights, Politics & Gov, World Watching,
The United States and many of its allies have had a very bitter relationship with the Iran for nearly 34 years. During the last 3 months Iran has been engaged in a series of negotiations to relax some of the myriad of international sanctions imposed on it to pressure a freezing any further development with respect to their nuclear development program. For President Obama this could be a crucial.....read more…
Freedom, Federalism and the First Amendment
Posted at: Nov/20/2013 : Posted by: mel
Related Category: Perspectives, Politics & Gov, The Law, Watching America,
One of the bedrocks of our governmental institutions and infrastructure is federalism. This is the constitutional recognition of the legal origins of the United States as a union of independent states. America started, of course with 13 colonies, which evolved to become 13 states. With the passage of time and expansion of our geographic footprint America has gradually added 37 additional states. .....read more…
Healthcare and bugs
Posted at: Oct/25/2013 : Posted by: mel
Related Category: Healthcare, Politics & Gov, Watching America,
Healthcare in America is a serious problem. Millions of Americans can’t afford basic care and therefore either go without, or burden our emergency rooms for their care in the most expensive cost model possible. In response to this challenge, the Obama administration pushed through Congress the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in March of 2010. Also known as “Obamacare,” this act has become the signatu.....read more…
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What would George say?
Posted at: Oct/22/2013 : Posted by: mel
Related Category: Historical Insights, Politics & Gov, Watching America,
Some say that modern politics are too far removed from historical examples to be realistically compared to anything in our school books. Others say that history is really about cause and effect, and the history books give us plenty of content to review when taking on the mess we call American politics. I am a strong believer in the latter and I feel that despite being dead for over 200 years, Geo.....read more…
Game theory and politics
Posted at: Oct/12/2013 : Posted by: mel
Related Category: Perspectives, Politics & Gov, Watching America,
We’ve all played games. Games have winners, losers and various types of outcomes. Some games are easy to manage and some are about understanding and predicting what your opponent is likely to do. Most games have rules and many games are enhanced when the participants bring special skills and developed strategies to the competition. In some game situations there is even the possibility for all .....read more…
Hypocrisy runs amuck
Posted at: Oct/01/2013 : Posted by: mel
Have your looked up the definition for hypocrisy recently, there are two standard definitions. 1, “a pretense of having a virtuous character, moral or religious belief or principles that one does not really possess.” 2, “a pretense of having some desirable or publicly approved attitude.” (Reference: dictionary.com). The common word in both definitions was “pretense.” Despite being proud of my co.....read more…
Guns, Violence and Common Sense
Posted at: Apr/18/2013 : Posted by: mel
Related Category: Common Sense, Politics & Gov, Society, The Law, Watching America,
Nothing creates a passionate outcry faster and louder than the killing of children. From the Columbine High School massacre in April of 1999, to Sandy Hook Elementary School in December of 2012; these are tragedies of the first order. We are instantly stirred to fervently ask “what can we do to prevent this from ever happening again.” In the wake of this tragedy, lots of things are getting blame.....read more…
Where to pin a medal?
Posted at: Mar/21/2013 : Posted by: mel
In case you had not heard, one of the last acts by outgoing U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta was the announcement of the creation of a new medal now available to members of our armed services. To be eligible for this award, military service members must have done something significant while operating drones or launching cyber-attacks against our enemies. This new medal is called the “Distingu.....read more…
