Iran Iran Iran

What a mess?! Iran is in political turmoil. Citizens all over the country are in an uproar over the recent elections. Should the US step in and intervene? Should President Obama be a little more involved? ABSOLUTELY! This election not only effects the Iranians...it affects the entire world. With such political unrest in the Middle East to being with it is important for the US and other countries to have peaceful relations with Iran. Having a new ruler for Iran may be the best thing.

Currently headlines all over are posing this question: Is Obama too soft on Iran? I do believe the President Obama should increase his voice on the issue. Again, this is not only going to effect the Iranians, but the United States as well.

The Great Smoke Out

President Obama signed into legislation today a bill allowing the FDA new power to regulate the tobacco industry. The new bill will allow the FDA to control the manufacturing, marketing and sale of tobacco. GREAT NEWS! I am not a smoker and I can probably count on one hand how many of my friends/family smoke, but this is truly great news for all of us. Having the ability to regulate the way tobacco is marketed will benefit all of us.

Lets look at the big picture. Tobacco kills! There is no doubt about that. Over the past few decades there have been many massive law suits against tobacco firms. Along with the steady increase of lung cancer (mainly amongst males - see chart below). With an increase in tobacco related medical issues it affects all of us. The financial results are tremendous. Not only does it increase out insurance premiums, but insurance companies all over are to pay tobacco related illnesses.

Australia already has a very informative marketing scheme. It is required to have the health risks on ALL cigarette cartons. (See below). In the end I think this is a great bill and I am looking forward to the positive effects

Obama's Healthcare

In recent weeks Obama has been discussing a universal health care plan to ensure Americans have health coverage. And in recent days he has been discussing malpractice and the thought of placing a cap on malpractice suits. Both are very valid issues that need to be addressed in the United States. I have seen first hand how Socialized Medicine works. In September 2007 fell ill with a rare form of cancer. I was diagnosed in a small coastal city in New Zealand. Upon arrival to the hospital it took hours to be seen by a doctor and then another three days to start the necessary tests to properly diagnose my illness. Once diagnosed it took another five days to complete the necessary paperwork to start treatment. The doctors were great and the care I received was tremendous, but I strongly feel that if I was in the United States with my medical/insurance card I would have been diagnosed in 75% less time and begun treatment much sooner. On the other side of the coin is the issue of so many Americans with NO insurance at all. This is a major issue and it is not going to go away in the near future.

Another hot topic recently is the amount of high end malpractice suits. I understand a life is precious and I can not say I would be thinking with a clear mind if I (or a family member) would be in a situation that a medical professional would neglect me or misdiagnose me. The end result could be detrimental. However, some law suits that come through for malpractice are insane. I personally know an individual that was misdiagnosed by her physician for months. She sued him for millions of dollars only to settle out of court for a fraction of the cost (she still walked away with millions). Was it necessary? She is still an able bodied individual. She lived a very normal life a able to carry on a good job. Is it the revenge factor? With this suit being settled the doctor will now have to pay higher premiums for his malpractice insurance. Insurance companies are getting hit everyday with these frivolous suits when that money can be sunk back into the health care system. Would a malpractice cap help our economy and out health care system?

More to come....








(My brother and I at Geisinger)

VOTE!

Last week in class we discussed the voting process. I personally was amazed as to the amount of people who DO NOT vote. CRAZY! The lifeblood of this country is in the hands of the people and only 35% of Americans vote?!?!

We discussed several ways to increase voter turnout. One of which was mandatory (compulsory) voting. There are currently 32 countries that have compulsory voting (only 19 enforce it). I really like the idea of creating alternatives to increasing voter turn out, however is compulsory the way to go? I have been a registered voter since I was able to drive, but did not taking a serious interested until I was 21 and moved to Florida. I like the idea of compulsory voting, however my concern is simple....IGNORANCE. I must admit that the first few times I voted simply ticked the individual that stuck in my head more or the ad's that I liked on TV. It wasn't until a few years ago when we voted for the new Florida Governor (Charlie Christ) that I actually took a serious interest in choosing a candidate that I felt was qualified enough to fill the position. We are in a different era....an era were the media (TV/Internet/Etc...) can seriously mold our decisions. I can remember a piece on World New Tonight during the peak of the recent Presidential Elections that really hit home with me. Charles Gibson was reporting on the types of media the younger generation migrate to. For instance David Letterman and Jay Leno play a huge role in morphing the minds of the American public on the candidates. Whether it was totally out of the ball park or a small joke toward a candidate, it played a role in the 2008 elections. I am fearful that the younger crowd will take those types of remarks and make a decision purely based on humor. The Internet was a another source for poor information related to voting. We need to educate the general public before making a sound decision on who is going to run our country for the next four to eight years.....we can't base that on a skit from Saturday Night Live. EDUCATE! EDUCATE! EDUCATE!

Obama Weak?

On Saturday Sarah Palin make a very strong comment regarding President Obama's plan to cut spending on a missile defense program in Alaska - WEAKNESS!

Secretary of Defense Robert Gates announced in April the administration cuts would put a stop to a $1.2 billion missile defense project in Palin's state. Is it a sign of weakness? Let me pose this question. Is there a middle ground? I do agree with Gov. Palin ... we need to have a strong defense system in place. Not only for Alaska, but the entire country. I also see President Obama's side of the coin.....budgets cuts are an unfortunate thing, but in this economy it is a necessity. So, is there a middle ground? Can we revamp the budget and still provide some funding for a defense project? Would this project create jobs?

I asked some friends and colleagues this question, "Was President Obama's decision to cut the missile defense program out of the budget a sign of weakness?" The results are unanimous...100% said, "NO!"

Obama's Muslim Apology?

There have been opinions flying around the media that President Obama is toruinig the Middle East on a mission to say, "We're Sorry!" True? Not sure....there are always two sides of the coin. Some reporters are saying it makes the US look weak that we are in the Middle East with the intent to apologize. I think this is a very interesting report. I think Obama is doing a stellar job trying to make amends with the Arabs in the Muslim world. As I mentioned in an earlier post there is, what I believe, to be a "gap of ignorance." Taking the time of out running the United States to meet with key political officials in the Middle East to start this process is critical in gaining strong (and positive) relations with the Middle East.

The Muslim World - The Gap of Ignorance!

Today on CNN.com the headline on their political page read "Poll: Few Americans have a good view of Muslim world".

Ignorance! Pure ignorance! Not everyone in the Muslim world are bad. Yes, some are and as the saying goes "One bad apple can spoil the bunch". I have done some extensive travel to the Middle East/Arab world (Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Kuwait, Doha, Bahrain, Beirut) and I loved it. I was welcomes with open arms. People treated me like I was royalty....literally! I too was ignorant at one point and and my first trip to the region I was on guard, but soon opened up and I was pleased with what I saw.

Now lets look at the other side of the coin.....9/11 for example. Thousands of innocent lives lost due to the beliefs of Muslim extremeists. Every time I hear the words "Allah akbar" I get chills! There needs to be some intervention between the Western world and the Middle East.

I believe the Obama Administration needs to continue their efforts in the Middle East and fill the gap between the two nations.......not only the political gap, but the "gap of ignorance" between the two.

Fathima and I at the Hassan II Mosque in Casablanca (2006).

Dubai, UAE (2007)

Dubai International Airport (2004).

Are You A Virgin Virgin?

I know this blog is supposed to be for current political events, but before I get to those I would like to post some blogs that weight heavy on my mind. With that said I would like to bring up the recent decision that Virgin America made to pull out of Chicago O'Hare International Airport.


Here's the deal. Virgin America is an American majority owned airline that is expanding at a reasonable pace. Their latest expansion attempt was to enter the Chicago market. However, there were no slots (or gates) available. Well that isn't entirely true. There were gates and slots available, but they were already under a long term lease with other airlines that were not willing to sell those spots to a competitor. They would rather pay their monthly lease payments on slots/gates that are sitting empty. Now, that is a probably a sound business decision on the part of the competitor airlines (United/American). I also see the saftey issue behind opening landing/take off slots (shorter time in between flights - increased risk of accidents).

My beef is not with the business decision behind allowing a competitor airline into an already saturated marketplace. My beef is the fact that these airlines have set themselves up for multiple failures and the only people to really be hurt by these decisions is the consumer. United and American have the Chicago market! They can charge what they want on certain routes (Los Angeles/San Fran) and get it. If Virgin would enter the market they would increase competition and decrease fares to these valuable marketplaces. It's a trickle effect.....business would be able to fly their employees to these markets at a lower price....familes would be able to go on vacations or visit loved ones they haven't seen in a while at significant savings. Look at the Los Angeles/San Fran to Sydney route. Qantas and United dominated that route for years and charged $1400 or more on that route. However, recently an air ban was lifted and now two new airlines have started service (Delta and Virgin Australia). Since then ban was lifted prices have dropped significantly (Delta Airlines Round Trip LAX - SYD $729 - V Australia $275 each way).

Ok, back to the main reason for this blog post. Should the US Government step in to aide in some of these decision? Now is the time! The economic effects of having Virgina America fly into Chicago airspace would be huge. First would be JOBS! Virgin America would have to employ ground crew in Chicago, more flight attendants, pilots, the whole lot. Another effect would be the the decrease in ticket prices. If a price of a ticket decrease then more people would fly therefore increasing output of cash boosting the economy. I think this is an issue that the US Government should look into.

District Judge? or Joke?

I know I am a bit behind the eight ball on this post as it has been nearly three weeks since the recent District Judge elections were held, but it stills weighs heavy on my mind and I before I wrote a post I wanted to have some concrete data.....survey results are in! (Posted throughout the blog post.)

The district judge position is a very important role. Whether it is a district judge, Human Resource Judge or US Supreme Court Judge they are ALL very important roles. Therefore just because this election was held for a District Judge in Columbia County does not make the importance of this position any less important.

The candidates: In my opinion there was only one qualified candidate (Mr. Russell Lawton) and thankfully it looks like he is the winner! I will not go into great detail about the other candidates other than Mr. Britton.

In my personal opinion you should have an extensive background in law. You do not need to be a big time attorney, but some sense of law (no, a degree in Political Science doesn't count).

I recently asked a few of my friends, colleagues (two of which are attorney's) to take part in a survey I created on SurveryMonkey.com asking three specific questions related to this election.

The first question was "Should District Judge candidates be Attorney's?" 89.5% of the people taking the survey said "YES" with 10.5% responding with "NO". As mentioned above, I disagree. I do NOT think you need to be an Attorney to be a district judge.

The second question I asked was "Should District Judge candidates have a legal/criminal justice background?" Again, the results were definitely one sided with 94.7% of the results saying "YES" and only 5.3% saying "NO". I did not take part in this survey, however I would be in the group that said YES. I think it is very important to have a criminal background.

The third and final question I asked was "Should District Judge candidates be eligible to run with NO legal background at all?". The results were unanimous! 100% of the individuals taking the survey replied with a "YES".

Like the Senators or Representatives I believe District Judge candidates should have an age (or experience level) requirement attached to them. They are not making small decisions....they are making LIFE ALTERING decisions. I think "Rusty" was the best candidate for this position and I am pleased that he is the preliminary winner. Mr. Britton on the other hand may be a well educated individual (book smarts), but does he really have the legal background to make a sound legal decision? His bio stated he worked at ICT Group as a call representative. He may have a degree is Political Science (not sure what his GPA was), but in my opinion that does not qualify you for a District Judge position.

Our political system is so screwed up! There are politicians "selling Senate seats" there are Judges taking comission for sending kids to a juvinile detention center.

I think we need to take a step back and re-evaluate the system.

On a side note I give kudo's to Chaz Britton for running. It takes guts to open yourself to the political arena. I wish him well for future elections!

Sonia Sotomayor to US Supreme Court

There are always two sides to a coin. I have been saying that for a good portion of my life. This story (which I am happy about) has two different sides. Not necessarily a "political" side, but two sides none the less. I grown up in a very open family. I grew up in "small town USA", spent my summers in Germany with my family and at the age of 23 I moved to Orlando, Florida. I have black friends, Jewish friends, Hispanic friends and I even married a Arab Muslim. It is now 2009 and I hate the fact that we are still harping on racial (and sex) differences.

Lets do this......lets have two single sheets of paper with all the "qualifications" of each candidate. No names....no ages.....no race or sex.....simply qualifications. Let us evaluate those qualifications then make a sound decision on those qualifications (yes, I am beating the word "qualifications" to death). When I had the opportunity to vote for our next president of the United States late last year I took it very seriously. I did not care if the potential president was a black man or a white woman. I was more concerned with the qualifications of that individual and whether or not they can run our country and help turn the US economy around.

It is so sad to hear the that there were so many people in the US that voted for the opposite party simply because of skin color.

Ok, back to my original thought....Sonia Sotomayor. The news of her nomination to US Supreme Court is still fresh and there are a lot of facts still hitting the media chopping block. As it stands currently the first (or close to the first) thing out of every news anchors mouth today was "Hispanic" and "Woman". I think it is great that she is a Hispanic female and I think it is great that she has the opportunity to be a judge in the countires highest court. I also think it is great that she grew up in the projects of the Bronx and now she is on top of the world. In my personal opinion she is a true star. I think she is qualified beyond belief....she is an inspiration to us all (or should be). With 98% of news these days being negative in stature it is simply embarrassing, disheartening and a diabolical shame. FINALLY a glimmer of positive light.

GOOD LUCK SONIA!