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 … 

April 27, 2011

The following are the recommended topics from the agenda committee:

1.      Presentation on City of Indio’s Finances as they relate to Measure S by Mike Cohen.  The City’s Citizens Finance Advisory Commission meets at City Hall on Monday April 25, at 5:00pm. Our own Tom Hutson is Chairman and Mike Cohen is our neighborhood delegate on this Commission.  They will be discussing the potential impact of a 12% City Departmental Fiscal Cut on our own neighborhood Fire Station! IMPORTANT STUFF!

2.    How do you think the Federal Debt Limit problem should be addressed?  Reference: WSJ, 4/5/11 Page A5 (“Geithner Seeks Higher Debt Ceiling”)

3.    Should the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) be able to restrict a private company from relocating its manufacturing facilities within the U.S.?  Reference: WSJ 4/21/11 Page A12-“The Death of Right to Work”,  Reference WSJ 4/21/11 Page B2-“Boeing to Fight Order to Move 787”

4.    Is enough being done by the FAA to overcome recent problems with air traffic incidents?  Reference: LA Times, 4/20/11-“First Lady’s Jet Too Close”

At the January 12 meeting, the point was made: Gasoline is going up towards $5.00 per gallon.  There's the suggestion that it may reach $6 at summer's end.  Today on NPR Weekend Edition: What's Driving Gas Prices, From An Energy Insider.  From CNN: Will gas prices trigger another recession?

April 13, 2011

1. Should one have the option to either "privatize" a 401(K) or keep their social security contributions within government control?  Ref: "The Utah Pension Model"...WSJ... Jan, 19 2011.
2. Should we expedite Deep Water Oil Drilling in the Gulf of Mexico?  Ref: "Path clears for Deep Water Oil Drilling..WSJ...Pg3...Jan, 4 2011.
3.  Considering today’s economy, should the state of California implement an “Earthquake Early Warning System” with an initial projected cost of $80M and an annual operating projected cost of $20M?  Reference: Desert Sun 4/7/11, “Scientist California’s Early Quake Alarm Ready in 5 Years”  SFGate
4. Should a higher debt ceiling be passed by Congress?  Reference: WSJ 4/5/11 Page A5 “Geithner Seeks Higher Debt Ceiling”

Shining a light - Carolyn Little's Bulb Collection

March 23, 2011

Topics from the agenda committee:

1. Handouts with new motorist laws that took effect in Calif. on Jan, 1 2011.  Ref: AAA Westways..Jan/Feb 2011 see pg 14 of print magazine.
2. Should the gov't extend "Green Credits" as subsidies for U.S. industries?  Ref: WSJ Pg 14.  March 3,  2011..Tax Reform Exhibit A.
3. Should one have the option to either "privatize" a 401(K) or keep their social security contributions within gov't control?  Ref: "The Utah Pension Model"...WSJ... Jan, 19 2011.
4. Should we expedite Deep Water Oil Drilling in the Gulf of Mexico?  Ref: "Path clears for Deep Water Oil Drilling..WSJ...Pg3...Jan, 4 2011.

Meeting update:
We covered items 1 and 2, but also Libya and Japan.
My personal thoughts:
1. The President should not have interfered in the recent developments in the Arab world.  Especially, he should not have pushed military action in Libya.  Daily Show: America at Not-War - Obama's Communication Gap.  May 19 update - The President's speech re. the 'Arab Spring':

we must proceed with a sense of humility.  It’s not America that put people into the streets of Tunis or Cairo -– it was the people themselves who launched these movements, and it’s the people themselves that must ultimately determine their outcome. 

2. Despite all the safeguards, we see that nuclear energy, though much needed, is not risk-free, whether in Japan or the U.S. Why 'Plan B' often works out badly

March 9, 2011

We usually start our meetings with discussion of community matters, then cover some topics sent from the agenda committee, like these for this meeting:

1. Should English be the Official Language of the USA?  Reference: LA Times, 2/9/11. Page A-14 “English Only? Press NO”
2. Should Municipal and State employees have the right to strike for benefits or wages?  Reference: WSJ 2/15/11 “Illinois Union Ally Turns Critic.” WSJ 2/28/11 “Union Power for Thee But Not For Me.”
3. What can U.S. do to stop the pirating of ships and people in the seas off Somalia and the Persian Gulf?
4. Should National Public Radio continue to be government subsidized?  Reference: American Legion Magazine, March 2011 Page 10, “Defund National Public Radio?”

Regarding item #2, see: The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, NY Times graphic
Regarding item #4, see: PBS message


I ask, what are the topics that we are reluctant to talk about, the proverbial elephants in the living room?

Art by Banksy

Newsweek 2/27/11: on information overload - I Can't Think

February 23, 2011

From the Agenda Committee:

1. Indio Councilman, Glenn Miller, will be our guest speaker discussing “What is going on in the City of Indio” – with Q&A to follow.
2. Should English be the Official Language of the USA?  Reference: LA Times editorial, 2/9/11. Page A-14 “English Only? Press NO”
3.  Should Municipal and State employees have the right to strike for benefits or wages?  Open for personal input.

Regarding item #3: KPCV - Wisconsin Dems walk out over controversial budget bill

February 9, 2011

Topics carried over from January 26, 2011.

January 26, 2011

Topical Discussion Group Agenda for January 26. 2011

1. Governor Brown is proposing a State Budget of 84.6 Billion dollars; some of the proposals will be handed out for your information and discussion at our meeting
2. Is the Lame Duck Session (of the Federal Government) an outdated concern. Ref: WSJ, 11/18/10 Page A23-“This Lame Duck Session Should be the Last”.
3. Should the State pass legislation limiting the number of appeals granted in death penalty cases?   Ref: LA Times 12/29/10
4. Should hand gun magazines with more than 8 cartridges be banned?

January 12, 2011

From the Agenda Committee:

1. If you were President, where would you propose to reduce the current National Deficit?
2. Gasoline is going up towards $5.00 per gallon, what can be done to minimize this trend?
3. What are your thoughts on changes being proposed to link teacher tenure to student test results?  Ref: WSJ, 1/2/11, Page A3 “Attempts to Link Teacher Tenure to Results.”

At the meeting, we spoke at some length about the tragic shootings in Arizona and President Obama's memorial address earlier in Tuscon.  Many at the meeting objected to the fixing of blame on the right.  No one brought up the defense from Sarah Palin, using the term blood libel, with its connotations.

Regarding item #2, see my peak oil blog, The Spare Can.
See Richard Heinberg's Museletter and chapter 3 of his book-in-progress The End of Growth: Earth's Limits: Why Growth won't Return

We ran out of time to discuss item #4.

December 8, 2010

November 17, 2010

1. Proposals by the President’s bipartisan deficit commission (per L.A. Times article) regarding: 1) Social Security, 2) Taxes. 3) Domestic Spending and 4) Health Care
2. President Obama’s Asia trip

November 10, 2010

Topics:

1. Midterm postmortem
2. Should California provide its own initiative to block Union card check elections? This insures a secret ballot by its members. as per article in the Wall Street Journal 10/4/10, Card Checkmate.
3. An Apocalypse is forecasted for Global Disaster on December 21-23, 2012. Is it real? Meteors and the Sun will affect our planet along with Solar flares shooting out our electrical grids through all the countries in the world. as per History Channel documentary 9/12/10
4. What are your thoughts on Senior Citizens getting the Whopping Cough vaccine? California has had 6000 reported cases so far mostly in young children. Elderly parents would be prevented from passing on the Whopping Cough to grandchildren. As per LA times 10/24/10, Some elderly patients can't get whooping cough vaccine

Regarding item #3:

ABC News: Phew! 2012 Doomsday Date May Be Wrong

From another blog of mine: Apocalypse

October 27, 2010

HOA Board candidate nomination process and Pulte involvement.

October 13, 2010

Propositions on California November ballot, 19-27.

See Smart Voter Guide.

KPCV: Confused by the ballot - tune into "The Proposition Song , also Gerrymandering.

We’ve switched our regular meetings to 2nd and 4th Wednesdays. So, our meetings this month are October 13 and 27. In deference to the holidays, our November and December meetings are 2nd and 3rd Wednesdays, i.e. November 10 and 17, and December 8 and 15. We’ll resume on 2nd and 4th Wednesdays after that.

September 27, 2010

Topics from the agenda committee:

1. Should the ACLU prevail in its suit against the U.S proposed Drone Air Attacks for targeting Al Qaeda operators? Reference: WSJ 9/2/10, “The Lawfare Wars” within the Review & Outlook Section on Page A14.
2. What are your thoughts on the proposed Mosque building to be built within the two block area of 9/11 ground zero? Ref: Too many to mention.
3. What are your views on denying citizenship to the so called “Anchor Babies” (aka Infants born in this country to both illegal parents.)? Ref: WSJ 9/9/10-“Birthrite Repeal Likely to Increase Illegal Population”Page A7.

Regarding item #1:

There are 2 parts to the WSJ opinion piece 'Lawfare'. It starts with the suspension of the military court's USS Cole case. In my opinion, there may be reasons the Administration might have held off on pursuing the case in military court, reasons beyond those spelled out in the piece. Intelligence gathering secrets could be jeopardized. I think that one could elucidate a theory that we are engaged in a war where hostilities continue, and we ought be under no compulsion to try or release enemy combatants until such time as hostilities have ended.

The 2nd part goes to the legality of drone attacks against an American enemy combatant, specifically al-Awlaki in Yemen. Again, in my opinion, we are fighting an enemy that is in many places around the world, often as non-state actors, and is pledged to fight to the death. We are compelled, thus, to oppose such persons as we find them.

With regard to the ACLU, I hearken back to the words of JFK, 'Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.' The ACLU's mission is all about claimed rights with little regard to costs and responsibility.

Regarding item #2:

The New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd cuts through the muck in Our Mosque Madness.

Here’s an ABCnews segment with Daisy Khan (10/3/10 - and a Town Hall Debate on This Week).

Here’s an article about Rauf.

Here’s one about Sufis.

President Obama added to his earlier comments on the subject during his press conference on Friday, 9/10/10. For more about that press conference, see this MSNBC article and this KPCC Airtalk discussion.

The New Republic contains further opinion on the project.

Currently new on HBO and available on-demand is My Trip to al-Queda.

Recently, one Florida pastor threatened to burn copies of the Koran. Here's Jon Stewart's humorous take on that subject.

Regarding item #3:

A new amendment to the constitution repealing part of the 14th amendment is highly unlikely. Inasmuch as the 14th amendment was part of the Reconstruction amendments, ending slavery in the U.S., a rejection of the 14th can be seen as yet another insult to our African-American President.

September 13, 2010

Topics covered:

1. HOA Board monthly meeting September 13
2. The City of Indio has proposed Measure S (which is an increase in the Utility Tax from 3% to 5%) for the November 2, ballot. How do you feel about this? References: City of Indio mail circular of 9/2/10. Desert Sun Page Indio should vote to save vital services
3. What are your thoughts on either dropping charges or postponing the military tribunal of Al Nashiri the alleged mastermind behind the U.S. Cole attack. Reference: Wall St. Journal Page A14 Thursday 9/2/10. Washington Post Administration halts prosecution of alleged USS Cole bomber

concessions by Israel?

The following is by George Will of the Washington Post on 8/18:

Skip the lecture on Israel's 'risks for peace'

In the intifada that began in 2000, Palestinian terrorism killed more than 1,000 Israelis. As a portion of U.S. population, that would be 42,000, approaching the toll of America's eight years in Vietnam. During the onslaught, which began 10 Septembers ago, Israeli parents sending two children to a school would put them on separate buses to decrease the chance that neither would return for dinner. Surely most Americans can imagine, even if their tone-deaf leaders cannot, how grating it is when those leaders lecture Israel on the need to take "risks for peace."

During Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's July visit to Washington, Barack Obama praised him as "willing to take risks for peace." There was a time when that meant swapping "land for peace" -- Israel sacrificing something tangible and irrecoverable, strategic depth, in exchange for something intangible and perishable, promises of diplomatic normality.

Strategic depth matters in a nation where almost everyone is or has been a soldier, so society cannot function for long with the nation fully mobilized. Also, before the 1967 Six-Day War, Israel within the borders established by the 1949 armistice was in one place just nine miles wide, a fact that moved George W. Bush to say: In Texas we have driveways that long. Israel exchanged a lot of land to achieve a chilly peace with Egypt, yielding the Sinai, which is almost three times larger than Israel and was 89 percent of the land captured in the process of repelling the 1967 aggression.

The intifada was launched by the late Yasser Arafat -- terrorist and Nobel Peace Prize winner -- after the July 2000 Camp David meeting, during which then-Prime Minister Ehud Barak offered to cede control of all of Gaza and more than 90 percent of the West Bank, with small swaps of land to accommodate the growth of Jerusalem suburbs just across the 1949 armistice line.

Israelis are famously fractious, but the intifada produced among them a consensus that the most any government of theirs could offer without forfeiting domestic support is less than any Palestinian interlocutor would demand. Furthermore, the intifada was part of a pattern. As in 1936 and 1947, talk about partition prompted Arab violence.

In 1936, when the British administered Palestine, the Peel Commission concluded that there was "an irrepressible conflict" -- a phrase coined by an American historian to describe the U.S. Civil War -- "between two national communities within the narrow bounds of one small country." And: "Neither of the two national ideals permits" a combination "in the service of a single state." The commission recommended "a surgical operation" -- partition. What followed was the Arab Revolt of 1936 to 1939.

On Nov. 29, 1947, the United Nations recommended a partition plan. Israel accepted the recommendation. On Nov. 30, Israel was attacked.

Palestine has a seemingly limitless capacity for eliciting nonsense from afar, as it did recently when British Prime Minister David Cameron referred to Gaza as a "prison camp." In a sense it is, but not in the sense Cameron intended. His implication was that Israel is the cruel imprisoner. Gaza's actual misfortune is to be under the iron fist of Hamas, a terrorist organization.

In May, a flotilla launched from Turkey approached Gaza in order to provoke a confrontation with Israel, which, like Egypt, administers a blockade to prevent arms from reaching Hamas. The flotilla's pretense was humanitarian relief for Gaza -- where the infant mortality rate is lower and life expectancy is higher than in Turkey.

Israelis younger than 50 have no memory of their nation within the 1967 borders set by the 1949 armistice that ended the War of Independence. The rest of the world seems to have no memory at all concerning the intersecting histories of Palestine and the Jewish people.

The creation of Israel did not involve the destruction of a Palestinian state, there having been no such state since the Romans arrived. And if the Jewish percentage of the world's population were today what it was when the Romans ruled Palestine, there would be 200 million Jews. After a uniquely hazardous passage through two millennia without a homeland, there are 13 million Jews.

In the 62 years since this homeland was founded on one-sixth of 1 percent of the land of what is carelessly and inaccurately called "the Arab world," Israelis have never known an hour of real peace. Patronizing American lectures on the reality of risks and the desirableness of peace, which once were merely fatuous, are now obscene.

Then there's this NY Times op-ed about Jewish opinion, Oy Vey, Obama.