Optimist Uplifting stories for this week. Link here
28 June: On the this day in 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and his wife, Sophie, were shot to death in Sarajevo by Serb nationalist Gavrilo Princip — the act that sparked World War I. Then on this same date in 1919, the Treaty of Versailles, ending WW I, was signed at Versailles, the terms of which were factors that led to WW II.
Cyber attack. Another massive cyber attack hit nations/companies around the world, especially in Europe, including Ukraine.
Health Care. Knowing they did not have the votes to insure passage, Republican leaders postponed the vote on their plan until sometime after July 4th. Columnist George Will opines that their sterling plans for R&R (remove and replace) will dwindle to T&MO (tweak and move on). He began,
Two Junes ago, when the Supreme Court upheld, 6 to 3, a challenged provision of the Affordable Care Act, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., writing for the majority, vented: “Congress wrote key parts of the Act behind closed doors. . . . Congress passed much of the Act using a complicated budgetary procedure known as ‘reconciliation,’ which limited opportunities for debate and amendment, and bypassed the Senate’s normal 60-vote filibuster requirement. . . . As a result, the Act does not reflect the type of care and deliberation that one might expect of such significant legislation.” Now, however, Republicans run things, so . . .
Seems nothing changed, because "no health-care policy is comprehensive, comprehensible and inoffensive to all interest groups." Once again, the Republicans drafted a bill behind closed doors; so closed, in fact, that one Republican senator among the supposed drafters, said he had not even seen the bill, committee staffers seemed to be in charge. No heed was paid to the Chief Justice's past remarks.
There continues to be no consensus in Washington regarding
- who should be covered,
- for what should they be covered, and
- how should the coverage be paid for?
I continue to say that I will be happy with my health care when I receive exactly the same benefits -- and at the same cost -- as my US representative, Diane DeGette (D), and my US senators, Michael Bennett (D) and Cory Gardner (R). DeGette and Bennett are on record as firmly opposed to both the Senate and House proposals; Gardner, apparently unsure of presidential retribution, remains "on the fence." We will see what he has "learned" after the holiday recess.
Merkel's Germany. This sure-to-be controversial article from the conservative American Thinker questions whether or not whether Germany has outgrown its past history seeking European domination, sometimes under the guise of continental integration.As British author John Laughland contends, "[A]ll important decisions in a confederation of states can ultimately only be taken by or with the approval of the most important state -- in this case, Germany."
In an unrelated matter, the Germany Bundestag voted to allow gay marriage.
Doomed Democrats? Julian Assange lists six reasons why he thinks the current Democratic party is doomed.
Cake decorating. A legal case from Denver, Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission, will be heard next term (beginning 2 Oct) by the Supreme Court. Can Jack Phillips, a cake-decorating artist, be required to create a wedding cake for a gay, male couple? Phillips maintains that his religious beliefs hold that marriage is a man-women relationship. Phillips' lawyer asks rhetorically, "could an African American woodworker be required to craft a cross for the local KKK?" Stay tuned.
That tree falling in a forest... The headline for Thursday's Washington Post political cartoon by Tom Toles: "If a tree falls in the forest and nobody is around to hear it, does it matter if the forest isn’t there anymore either?" Link here
John Lewis (D, GA) "Note to self." A CBS Morning segment, another in their continuing series "Note to Self," is by John Lewis, a short, moving memoir of the Civil Rights era. Link here. (Please forgive the obligatory embedded 30 second commercial.)
Climate change and you. On last Thursday (30 June), a Washington Post article called attention to a study by the journal Science which "details how global warming could disproportionately affect poor areas of the US, contributing to widening economic inequality among Americans." The Post's article has an accompanying map where you can check your county's projected future. The darker colored your county, the greater its future economic "hurt."
Al Jazeera. The future of the Arab world's favorite news channel is in doubt. Arab autocrats have a strong distaste for its coverage of their less-than democratic programs. While no one news source gets it right all the time, Al Jazeera's independent stance is infuriating to the many unelected Middle Eastern potentates.
National paralysis. The lead article in this past week's Economist was "Donald Trump's Washington is paralyzed." No matter your take on our current situation, several important questions have to be asked: How did we get to the point where such a headline is even possible? Did the anti-Washington, anti-bureaucracy sentiments override reason?
Our foreign and domestic policies are awash in contradictions. President Trump did the "sword dance" with Saudi princes, blithely (ignorantly?) ignored the fact that their funds continue to support terrorist organizations. He agreed to sell $10B+ military hardware to Qatar, while calling the country a supporter of terrorism and, apparently, did not realize that Qatar's major airbase is home to America's Central Command in the Middle East.
His Republican-controlled Congress produces twin health care alternatives that will eliminate coverage for millions of the president's less well-off supporters, while rewarding his well-off backers with with huge sums. (Though certainly not a supporter, Warren Buffett says he will get some $675,000 under either the House or Senate bills.)
Opioids. Gary Abernathy is publisher and editor of the (Hillsboro, Ohio) Times-Gazette and this sobering article discussed the ongoing opioid epidemic in OH. (4,149 inadvertent overdose deaths in 2016) Tragically, there are similar epidemics in other, neighboring states. Abernathy likens drug pushers to home-grown terrorists, whose drugs come largely from Mexico (heroin) and China (fentanyl), noting that this may be one reason why many of his readers see little wrong with Trump's border control measures.
Washington and Ottawa. This past week North America celebrated two national Independence Days. Our own 241st, Canada's 150th. Equal parts "Star Spangled Banner" and "Oh, Canada." Those American's feeling a bit disillusioned might reflect on this historical tidbit.
"...Frederick Douglass stepped up to the lectern at Corinthian Hall, in Rochester, New York, and, in an Independence Day address to the Ladies of the Rochester Anti-Slavery Sewing Society, made manifest the darkest ironies embedded in American history and in the national self-regard. "What, to the American slave, is your 4th of July?” Douglass asked, [then answered]...a day that reveals to him, more than all other days in the year, the gross injustice and cruelty to which he is the constant victim. To him, your celebration is a sham; your boasted liberty, an unholy license; your national greatness, swelling vanity; your sounds of rejoicing are empty and heartless; your denunciations of tyrants, brass fronted impudence; your shouts of liberty and equality, hollow mockery; your prayers and hymns, your sermons and thanksgivings, with all your religious parade, and solemnity, are, to him, mere bombast, fraud, deception, impiety, and hypocrisy—a thin veil to cover up crimes which would disgrace a nation of savages. There is not a nation on the earth guilty of practices, more shocking and bloody, than are the people of these United States, at this very hour.
Elsewhere, Douglass reminded his audience. “Intelligence is penetrating the darkest corners of the globe.” There is yet hope for the “great principles” of the Declaration of Independence and “the genius of American Institutions.” There was reason for optimism then, as there is now.
Independence Day trivia.
Canadian: "Oh, Canada" was commissioned in 1880 by the Lt. Governor of French-speaking Quebec; the first lyrics were in French; the more popular English version was written in 1906; the song was adopted as the official national anthem only in 1980.
American: On our 150th anniversary (1926), the people of Poland sent an understandably late birthday card, one of immense proportions -- 5.5 M signatures, various other salutes, salutations, and memorials, all in 111 bound volumes. Link here to the Washington Post story. Link here to the Library of Congress' digitized collection of all 111 volumes.
A minority's 4th. This Denver Post article notes that not all Americans are wild about celebrating the 4th.
Thank you for reading. I hope you enjoyed the 4th of July weekend.
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