May 25, 2011

An invitation to all members and guests to state their ideas for a stimulating new approach to be used for next season's "GUEST SPEAKER AND DISCUSSION" type meetings.



Here are some of my own suggestions for broad topics with potential local speakers:

• Getting Older - health, caregivers, transition, long-term
• Other Clubs - leadership from Clubs and Groups like Loss and Grief 
• Real Estate - Aggie Jordan update?
• Interesting people in our community - a call for stories
• The future - Fears, Jon Stewart, Cosmic Log

We've had various speakers at our meetings in the past, like from CVWD, Shadow Hills High School. etc.


Here are notes from our neighbor Sun City's Forum Club meetings this past season: http://scpdca.com/news_views/

November 2010 - Immigration Both sides of this very interesting issue will be presented by two highly qualified guest speakers. Presenting information and arguments on the “Immigration Rights” side will be Mr. Karan Kler, executive director of Coachella Valley Immigration Service Assistance, a nonprofit immigration counseling agency in Palm Springs. Mr. Scott Powelson, a member of the Executive Board of the California Coalition for Immigration Reform in Huntington Beach, will have equal time to present information and arguments on the “Rule of Law” side of this contentious issue

December - to review the results of the mid term elections of last month and the implications they present. Sun City resident and former Forum Club president, Arnie Shane, will lead the club in a discussion of what to expect in the future as a result of the national and local election

January - Can the gridlock in Sacramento be broken? Representatives from the Democratic and Republican viewpoints will present assessments of the changing political landscape. Among the topics for discussion will be: The impact of both  a democratic governor and legislature; changes in termed out legislators; Proposition 25 and budget passing by simple majority; open primaries; legislative redistricting; Proposition 26,fees and other financial assessments, subject to a 2/3 majority passage. Perhaps the axiom, “the more things change, the more they stay the same” will be tested for its validity

February -  “ What is America’s future as a world power?” Consider the following: 1. What made the United States become the most powerful nation in the 20th Century? Was it luck, know how or leadership? 2. Why has America declined? Is it the economy? Has society changed? Is it failed leadership? 3. How does the United States compare to other major powers? 4. What needs to be done? Should the United States continue to play the role of world policeman? Will the nation face bankruptcy? Come and hear our speaker: Ron Oard, Professor Emeritus in History and Political Science, Mount St. Mary College, Los Angeles, followed by our roundtable discussions

March - How will the 2010 HealthCare Bill affect you? Mr. Michael Landes, the President of the Eisenhower Medical Center Foundation, will address this most important question. It is likely that the Bill will affect virtually everybody in the United States. Mr. Landes, due to his close association with the Eisenhower Medical Center (EMC) and his prior career in medical education development and delivery, is uniquely qualified to discuss the subject. You don’t want to miss this very informative program. He will discuss the following issues: What is the likely affect on SCPD residents?; Overall pros and cons of the Bill; Changes to EMC to adapt to the new law; How can the Bill be changed to improve it?; Are we headed for a single payer system?

April -  two speakers with Jim Evidon speaking on The Military Industrial Complex and Professor Ronald Oard addressing America’s role in global  imperialism. Focusing on: 1. The Military/Industrial  complex and what should be its role in the world?  2. The United States’ role in its commitment to world peace?  3. The role of foreign aid in United States policies. 4. The State Department with the Defense department and their contacts with foreign governments.  Are we big brother to the world?

May - a potpourri of subjects.  It could be: Global Islam, or Healthcare, or the Middle East, or U.S.-China relations, or Global Warming,or the Economy, or Israel’s survival or all of the above.  Moderators will head up the discussions.

May 11, 2011

1.  Should the photos and the true events which took place c/o Usama bin Laden be made public?  Ref: LA Times, 5/5/11, “Bin Laden Photo Withheld”
2.  Is this the time for the government to stop subsidizing the private market?  Ref: WSJ 5/4/11 Page A15, “Let the Market Pay for Renewable Energy”
3. Can the State of CA afford to continue to be held hostage by the State Prison Guard Unions?  Ref: WSJ 4/30/11 Page A13, “CA Prison Academy: Better Than a Harvard Degree”  Ref: Bloomberg Business 5/2-8/11 Page 25 thru Page 26, “Public Pay-Seriously You Would rather Work in CA”.
4. Have you reviewed the 2011/2012 budget for Shadow Hills?  What are your thoughts on it?  Ref: SCSH Board Meeting of 4/25/11.

We only were able to get to item #1 and then broadened that to discussion of the 'Arab Spring'. See my blog entry..

Regarding the 'Arab Spring', see this MSNBC piece: Saudi Arabia scrambles to limit region’s upheaval

The Arab Spring began to unravel an alliance of so-called moderate Arab states, led by Saudi Arabia and Egypt, which were willing to work closely with the United States and promote peace with Israel. American support for the Arab uprisings also strained relations, prompting Saudi Arabia to split from Washington on some issues while questioning its longstanding reliance on the United States to protect its interests.

Whose interests exactly?  Is the President protecting American interests by encouraging dissent?

As regards Israel, a lot has been made about the recent meeting between Mr. Obama and Mr. Netanyahu and their respective speeches, I recommend the following article from The New Republic: Yes, We Can’t - What Obama got right, and wrong, in his Middle East speech:

I listened in disbelief as he stated that, while there are those who believe that the regional instability of recent months makes a solution impossible for now, he believes the opposite is true. On what basis, Mr. President? From where I’m sitting in Jerusalem—watching Turkey turn Islamist and pro-Iranian, Lebanon being devoured by Hezbollah, Hamas legitimized by Fatah, the Muslim Brotherhood rising in Egypt, and Iran’s nuclear program proceeding apace—I would say that this is just about the worst time to try to entice an ambivalent Israeli into empowering his dovish side. At a time when Egyptian-Israeli relations—our only successful land for peace agreement—could be unraveling, Israelis are hardly likely to risk another withdrawal, this time from our most sensitive border, and without even the pretense of a peace agreement. 

The author, Yossi Klein Halevi, visited the desert a couple of years back as guest speaker at a local AIPAC meeting.

Then is this counter-view in The Jewish Journal: Is Obama good or bad for Israel? in which the author, David Suissa, argues:

Despite my misgivings, I had to recognize that Obama had said plenty of supportive things about Israel. As Ari Shavit summarized in Haaretz: “He blocked the Palestinian initiative to unilaterally establish a Palestinian state. He condemned the Palestinian effort to delegitimize Israel. He came out against Hamas. He did not demand a total and immediate freeze on settlement construction. He did not embrace the Arab peace initiative. He showed that he has internalized Israel’s security problems and defense concerns. Above all, he adopted the two main principles of Israel’s peace doctrine: Israel as a Jewish state and Palestine as a demilitarized state.”

Love him or hate him, that’s not a bad list.

This Jewish Journal article has embedded video of 2 speeches and the press conference between the 2 leaders.  There's also the Netanyahu Speech at the Joint Session of Congress - May 24, 2011.

See also the recent article: Obama and the quest for Mideast peace It concludes:

Is it any wonder Netanyahu is steaming and this president has the lowest approval rating among Israelis of any sitting American president?  Now, if only American Jews would wake up …