Self Censorship out of Fear

PM Merkel couldn't have said it better, and it's the most reasonable statement so far by a public figure against Muslim radicals:

"We must take care that we do not retreat out of a fear of potentially violent radicals," Merkel was quoted as saying in Hanover's Neue Presse newspaper. "Self-censorship out of fear is not tolerable."

This time around, the Muslim radicals didn't even get a chance to riot, denounce, and destroy since the "offending event" was cancelled out of fear. If you ask me this is getting ridiculous. If we give in out of fear, not only it's not acceptable, not only are we violating our own freedom rights, but we would be handing a win to the radical extremists with colonization dreams.

Tags: Germany, Mozart, Merkel, Opera, Muslims, Mohammed

The New Volkswagen Polo

Completely non-PC but hilarious!!!

Chavez and the UN

That a so called world leader can stand behind the podium of the UN assembly and insult another world leader in an infantile rant is amazing. Are there no standards, no code of ethics, no diplomacy required to speak? You may not like other leaders, but come on "the Devil", "smells of sulfur" and pimping Noam Chomsky? Has the UN no self respect for itself as an organization?

My God tennis and golf tournaments require more than this from their players. But then again this is the organization led by Kofi and the oil for food scandal.

Whatever I wanted to say - no one says it better than an editorial at the Daily News. As irreverent as Chavez's demagoguery, the editorial expresses my sentiments to a tee. Some highlights (emph. mine):

May your prayers be answered, Señor Chavez. May the United Nations leave New York for residence in Venezuela, so very far from the diplos' lush and cushy berth on the East Side...take the atrophied, self-abasing remains of a global ideal 2,100 miles to Caracas, where you can play the messianic oil baron game to your heart's content with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

...you can shove the gasoline you sell to Americans through Citgo, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Venezuelan national oil company through which you are bribing your way into international power...It is, frankly, un-American for U.S. citizens to pour money into any bank account that bears the Hugo Chavez name, you being despicable enough to suggest that "the U.S. empire planned and conducted" the 9/11 terror attacks "against its own people" as an excuse to go to war.

Far more pertinent is that oil-bought Chavez cronyism is pervasive enough among UN member states to put Venezuela in serious contention for a spot on the Security Council, the body the world is forced to rely on to stem Ahmadinejad's atomic aspirations. Once there, Venezuela would work to help Iran become the world's most dangerous country - one dedicated to the destruction of Israel.

Saddam Hussein had his way with the UN by corrupting the oil-for-food program to buy his way out of having to comply with weapons inspections. Today's trade is oil for nukes, and the UN is again reclining into a supine position.

The parliament of mankind? Naw. A cheap bordello.

A cheap bordello. That is exactly what the UN is. I would've added after kicking the UN out of the East Side, stopping all US funding to the organization - I'm sure Chavez would more than willingly double the amount to fund the UN in Caracars.

Tags: US, UN, Hugo Chavez, George Bush

Kofi Annan and Cuban Dissidents

In the recent NAM summit, dissidents had asked to meet with Kofi Annan. Instead Kofi decided to meet with leader of the NAM countries including The Bearded Stooge - brushing off and disregarding the plight of the dissidents.

"They certainly showed to be not aligned with truth, liberty and justice."

But then again, what to expect from the leader of the group that has failed Darfur miserably as well as so many other countries. Definitely a must read.

Tags: Cuba, United Nations, NAM, Oswaldo Paya, Human Rights, Kofi Annan, Fidel Castro

What are you Scared of?

Have you ever asked yourself that question? What really incites fear in your heart and soul? This will be a personal post so this is your moment to stop if personal posts are too much for you.

I know what I'm afraid of. No, not terrorists. Dying is the least of my worries right now, and in a way would put me at a better place; at a happier place. You see I'm afraid of intimacy. No, not just sexual intimacy, emotional intimacy as well. I like to say I'm emotionally challenged - unable to demonstrate love and unable to allow myself to be loved. Pathetic, don't you think?

A bit of background. I've been abandoned for most of my life. Not physically, but emotionally. I'm a survivor of incest, only surviving has side effects for life that if not dealt with in time can handicap your ability to be in relationships - your ability to be happy and make others happy. In time for me should've been at 13, but my parents emotionally abandoned me. I don't blame them; I think they did the best they could, the best they knew. But they were so wrong.

I was made to feel guilty of the eight years of abuse I endured; heck I was even sent to confession for it. I became damaged goods - and for someone that has a temperament (INTJ in Myer Briggs - 1% of the population) of independence, single mindedness and problems showing emotions (yet we are hypersensitive to rejection) - well you can see how this was not a good reaction to receive.

Of course no one found out. Are you kidding me? Cuban families and the legendary que diran what will people say...maybe they would've said to get me some help! To this day my mother questions whether it was abuse or consensual - at this point I've written her off as not well in the head and pay no attention to her comments. My father, well he's an alcoholic, and I truly doubt he even remembers the event one way or the other. If faced with it, he would probably say it never happened.

But it did. And no one came to my help. NO ONE. I was an abandoned thirteen year old. From my experience I've come to learn that teenagers need a lot of love. A LOT. They need to be made to feel that no matter what goes wrong or what happens their parents will still love them. Well in my house papi was always working, drinking or sleeping....and mami was studying, working, and trying to keep the house together. Problem is she wanted more from me; she needed me. An as my temperament attests, I'm independent. But of course for her I was a selfish bitch - her words not mine. So I came to feel misunderstood, guilty of who I was and things I had never done, and abandoned.

So I left and vowed never to come back; I became my own little person, I created my own armadura, you know armor so tough not even "cop killers" can penetrate it. I sealed myself up from emotions, and the touchy feely world. I survived. At least I wasn't an alcoholic, drug addict or whore - I was a professional with goals and achievements and respect. But still no LOVE and NO ONE to give me support. I was thirty three and I still felt as abandoned as twenty years earlier.

But I was in love, and there was someone crazy enough to be in love with me. And it scared me shitless. I had anxiety attacks, panic attacks, and this hounding voice that at any silent moment would break through screaming to run away, to do away with the relationship. You don't love, you can survive without it would continually say. I didn't have a moment's peace. I shared this with my partner, now my spouse, and I have to say the reaction sort of caught me off guard. I got SUPPORT, UNDERSTANDING and LOVE....and ironically it was very SCARY.

It's been three years, and I'm still trying to "run away" from my spouse. We are currently in therapy, but as my spouse states if put on a scale my fear weighs more than my love - because I'm not able to overcome it. It hasn't been a rosy three years, and sometimes I wonder if we are going to make it. No matter how hard I try, I can't let go. Too scared. I start to hyperventilate as my heart races at the first sign of vulnerability...because being vulnerable means I can get hurt; I'd be opening myself up for someone else to hurt me - to abandon me. Someone other than me of course, since I don't think anyone has done more damage to me than myself - at least in my adult life.

So why am I telling you all of this? Because my spouse has had it, is at the tipping point, is starting to get physically sick and mentally affected by all of this. No we are not divorcing, nor separating, nor giving up. But if I want this marriage to last, if I want this future family to be everything mine never was, I have to overcome this fear, I have to let go. You see I'm like the Cubans in the island who know they need change but are too afraid to do anything about it - because the status quo as long as they get their remesas and their medicines from the familiares is too comfortable, it's safe; they can survive without having to break the inertia; without having to budge from their fear; without having to go into that big unknown.

While everything in the world goes haywire, I'm fighting my own personal battle to survive - again. How ironic, to feel so much love and not be able to share it. To be such a child emotionally while such an adult physically. To be so afraid of being hurt and abandoned, that you rather hurt yourself by losing and hurting that which you love the most.

So, what are you scared of?

Laying off the Donuts

If you live in New England you run on Dunkin Donuts, clam chowder, stuffies, clam cakes, beer, all sorts of breads and lots and lots of pies.  Not good if you don't keep up with the exercising.  So not good, that since August 2005 I've put on 25 pounds - and pushing 26.  On top of that we celebrated Chile's Fiestas Patrias a day early last night - having eaten too many empanadas and drank too much Pisco Sour and red wine.  Thank God there is not a Cuban bakery or restaurant anywhere close by (except those revolucion people, but they are not Cuban).

Being a doctoral student it has been hard to keep up with an exercise regimen that allows me to freely participate in New England culinary culture while maintaining a healthy weight.  So at 25 pounds overweight, with no motivation whatsoever to engage in exercise (except to be able to partake on the culinary arts of this region) my spouse decided to dangle some incentive - once I loose half the weight I get my choice of an mp3 player (yes, I can even opt for an iPod Nano); once I loose all the weight I get a trip!  To be honest, I'm more excited about the midrange prize than the grand prize and that's a good thing.

You see, once I get into a routine, it's hard for me to fall off.  So today I went to my first aerobic step class in well over two years.  I thought I wasn't going to be able to endure it, but I fared much better than the young things in the class.  My right knee almost buckled in the first 10 minutes (hey, after all it's carrying around the extra weight), but I survived.  It reminded me how much effort goes into staying healthy and fit and how much strenous exercise is needed to burn off once Chocolate Glazed doughnut.

This is the first week of my fitness adventure, so wish me luck.  If all goes well, i should be getting that iPod very close to mid-October and for my birthday no less!

"Unbiased" MSM - The Pope's "apology"

"In a rare public appearance the Pope apologized for his comments," said Anne Curry during her news segment at 8am this morning.

"What? That's not what he said!" I screamed at the television. Pointless. Unless people watching the Today show have been following the news online, this morning they all believe the Pope apologized. Tell that to the Muslims, who are still waiting for an apology and acting accordingly with killings, bombings, church attacks and protests.

The rare public apperance? Planned and not induced by any Muslim outrage, from the Winnipeg Free Press (emph. mine).

His first public appearance since his return from Germany was set for Sunday, when Benedict planned to greet the faithful at Castel Gandolfo, the papal summer residence in the Alban Hills near Rome.

So much for that one. Next, the statement that the Pope apologized for his comments. Well not really. From the Boston Globe:

The Pontiff said on Sunday he was deeply sorry Muslims had been offended by his use of a medieval quotation on Islam and holy war. But he stopped short of retracting a speech seen as portraying Islam as a religion tainted by violence.

Saying you are sorry that someone was offended is not the same as saying you are sorry for offending someone. Semantics, yeah. But these semantics are very important since they decide where blame lies In the former, the blame lies with the offended - you took offense, it's your problem - whereas on the latter the blame lies with the offend - I offended you, it's my problem. There is a big difference, and Muslims know it. Also from the Boston Glob (emph. mine)e:

Al Qaeda militants in Iraq vowed war on "worshippers of the cross" and protesters burned a papal effigy on Monday over Pope Benedict's comments on Islam.

"We shall break the cross and spill the wine ... God will (help) Muslims to conquer Rome ... (May) God enable us to slit their throats, and make their money and descendants the bounty of the mujahideen,"

Slit their throats? Break the cross? Spill the wine? Conquer Rome?......What exactly was it that Muslims were protesting again (emph mine):

In a broader talk rejecting any religious motivation for violence, Benedict cited the words of a Byzantine emperor who characterized some of the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad as “evil and inhuman,” particularly “his command to spread by the sword the faith.”

Sounds like the command of the sword is alive and well, and not in an old text somewhere. They really showed the rest of the world. I've never seen a group protest a comment they believe to be stereotypical and offensive by behaving in the offensive and stereotypical way. So why are they protesting? Iis this was some truth that couldn't be found out? The best thing I've read so far is an article from the Jerusalem Post where they interview a priest in Beirut. I leave you with his closing remarks, which hit the nail in the head:

"It is high time that Islam deal with modernity; not to be swallowed up by it, but rather to take what good it has to offer and improve on it," he said.

Will that day ever come?

Tags: Muslims, Islam, Muhammed, Pope, Vatican, Terrorism, Catholics

Friday Hodge Podge

Oriana Fallaci, leftist journalist and outspoken critic of any type of fascism, has passed away. Mos recently she was a tough critic of Islam fascim, or fundamental Islam or Islam extremists - whichever term you prefer. She lost her long battle with cancer, and died in her native Florence. While I'm sure some will be celebrating her death, her views will not be silenced. You can read more here and here . Surprisingly, couldn't find leftie blogs covering the news; her harsh criticism of Islam must've made her not PC, even though a leftie herself.

Meanwhile, Islam is beyond criticism according to the Pakistani National Assembly. They are asking the Pope to retract comments he make that linked Islam with violence. Yeah, and I want the whole world to retract comments made that linked Catholicism with pedophiles. Get a grip people, and learn to take the truth, take an introspective look and reform your fallacies. El sol no se tapa con un dedo. I hope the Pope sticks to his words. Michelle Malkin has more.

And 9 Cubans who were being held to be deported from Mexico for entering the country illegally (now there's a thought!) managed to escape the detention center in Tijuana and make it to the border - and of course ask for asylum. At least some good news this week.

On other news, my university will be holding a debate on civil rights and surveillance programs - ironically on Constitution Day. One of the sides will be represented by the ACLU and the other by the Attorney General of my state. Haven't decided if I have the stomach and self control to assist, being that I literally live in Kool-Aid land.

Tags: Oriana Fallaci, Pope Benedict, Islam, Cuba, Fidel Castro, Freedom, Constitution, Surveillance

Cuban National Ballet

Thanks to Melek for this wonderful humorous break.

Tags: Cuba, Fidel Castro, Raul Castro, Venezuela, Hugo Chavez, Bolivia, Evo Morales

Today's Must Read

"For as long as I live, the image of those towers falling, as I watched in horror and disbelief from the corner of 40th and Fifth, will be for me my Pearl Harbor, for in that instant I recognized that not only was our city under attack - so was our freedom.

It still is. And will continue to be for years to come. And the threat is not from within, but from Islamic fascists who desperately want to destroy the freedom and opportunities that millions the world over still seek. "

Sounds like your typical right wing conservative Republican "propaganda", right?

Wrong! If you think witdrawing from the Middle East will keep us safe, please read this editorial. And when you do, remember it is an Arab-American Muslim who is doing the talking.

The money quote?

"With all due respect, read the Koran, Mr. President. There's enough there for someone of extreme tendencies to find their way to a global jihad."

Tags: Terrorism, Arabs, Islam, Koran, Non-Aligned, Muslim, America, USA

Open Defiance

The Ladies in White decided they will not cooperate with the tyranny and in an act of open defiance to the government conducted their traditional march this past Sunday. The government had forbiddent political demonstrations during the NOAL Summit (Non-Aligned), but the Ladies in White had other plans.

"If we accept everything they (the government) order, then we would have to accept the imprisonment of our husbands....It is the necessary that the world knows that we do not agree with those situations (prohibitions); in all countries, even during summits, there are places where people can manifest and protest and petition what they want." Laura Pollan, Ladies in White activist and wife of dissident Hector Maceda who is serving a 20 year sentence.

You can read the story here, in Spanish.

Tags: Cuba, Ladies in White, Human Rights, NOAL, Non-Aligned, Freedom, Democracy, Fidel Castro, Raul Castro

Never Forget

I posted the following essay at Babalú for our 9/11 remembrance there. A friend emailed me saying that I should post it at my blog too; that he really liked it. I was planning to only post my tribute to WTC victim Mary D. Stanley as part of the 2,996 project. But at his suggestion, I'm cross-posting my 9/11 remembrance here as well.

Never Forget
by La Ventanita

It was Tuesday and I was late for work. As usual, I had the Today Show going on in the background - something about a Cessna crashing into one of the WTC towers. Not the start of a good week - yesterday I had found my ex was with someone else - and it was about to get worse.

Settling into my open cube at the office the phone rings. A woman's worst fear. My ob-gyn was calling to tell me my Pap was irregular and I needed to have a biopsy. I break down and start to cry. I'm only 31. At the same time I read as my friend tells me through messenger that another plane hit the other tower. What?

"We're under attack!" Someone yells at the office.

I run to the kitchen, where the TV was on and the entire company was watching. I gasp. I make it just in time to see the first tower fall. I can't believe what I'm seeing. My eyes well up and I get goosebumps, as I realize that I'm watching people die. I'm in shock, and can't believe when the second tower goes down. I thought it was a replay of the first tower.

"This is war," I hear some say as I leave the area. Like Ziva, I expected big mobilizations after this. Strong retaliation, a show of force and power, and a country UNITED to face these bastards.

I spent the day in a daze, as much of my co-workers did. No one knew what to do, but call friends and family to see how everyone was doing emotionally. No one really worked that day - how could you? One of my printing suppliers came by with an impromptu printed USA Flag. I didn't want to be alone, so I went to a friends house, where I watched non-stop news coverage of the attack. I almost vomited when I saw the Arabs celebrating. I had never felt so much hate.

9/11 changed me forever in many ways. I am know prejudiced against anyone resembling a middle eastern physique...and I hate it. I don't like stereotyping people or being prejudiced, but I now find myself suspecting everyone. If I see an Arab anywhere, I will wonder what he/she is up to, when before I wouldn't have given it a second thought. I wonder every time I get into a plane if I will make it home, or if some terrorist bastard will take me away from my family. As I write this, I am again crying.

As a nation we should've united against this threat, and all I see are people defending and appeasing Islamofascists. This weekend I took my husband to a Roger Waters concert as an anniversary gift, and felt more like I was being indoctrinated pro-Arab, pro-Palestine, pro-Hezbollah, anti-USA, anti-Bush and Blair, anti-Israel. And people just sat there, and sometimes even cheered. Their hatred of W more than their love for their country and their way of life; not realizing they are SUPPORTING people that are AGAINST the very values they hold so dear - FREEDOM OF SPEECH and SEPARATION OF CHURCH & STATE.

I don't know where we as a nation will end up. I fear we have not learned our lesson, we have not realized what we are against. These people will not give up, even if we decided to live in a bubble and disassociate from the rest of the world. They will not stop until they create a Muslim world.

My biggest fear? That it will not be until we are hit harder and deeper that this nation will come together, will put aside their differences and will learn that a UNITED front is the only way Islamofascists can be defeated. In the end, I know we will win. What I don't know is the toll that will get us there.

Every time I go to NYC, I cry. There is a big gaping hole in the skyline, and there is a big gaping hole in our nation and in our hearts.

I will never forget the 2,996 WTC victims, the 184 victims of the Pentagon attack and the heroes of United Flight 93. Will you?

Tags: 9/11, World Trade Center, USA, Terrorist Attack, Flight 93, Pentagon, America, War

Remember Mary D. Stanley

I never met her; I didn't know anyone in the Towers. But today, I remember her life, I honor her so we never forget September 11, 2001 and its victims. But who was Mary Stanley? Mary D. Stanley touched many lives and was loved by many.

Mrs. Stanley had always been brave. No one knows why, but as a teenager and with just a high school diploma, she moved from the Midwest to New York where she made her home with her husband Paul, 14 years her senior. Mary was at 53 a selfless friend and wife. According to her friend at "every important occasion, there was Mary". From her guestbook:

"When my wife, Patricia and I married, you were there! As we prepared for the birth of
our first child, you gave us so many, many
baby shower gift. Thanks for the love shown to us. May God be with you, Paul, and thanks again Mary for all the love shown to us."
Harold and Patricia Hills & family,
Harold Hills (Brooklyn, NY )

"Mary gave me my very first computer over ten years ago. She sat down and taught me how to use it. She gave me software to update it when needed.You are one of God's brightest stars in the heaven. I Love You and Miss You. Shivi "
ashiviah fleming (hollis, NY )

Mary was a vice president and technical analyst at Marsh & McLennan, a firm that leased eight floors of the WTC and lost over 200 employees on 9/11. When her older husband had an embolism, she became the family breadwinner and helped her husband survive when everyone else gave him up for dead. When her friends house burned down, she was there days, nights, and weekends helping sift through debris.

Mrs. Stanley worked on WTC 1, and the eight floors her company leased were 94th through 100th, and a portion of the 93rd floor. It is believed the plane impacted around the 91st floor. We will never know if Mary died instantly, or if she survived the impact and died as a cause of the fire. What we can know is that she died a senseless death at the hand of people who had no regard for human life, people who hate us and who will stop at nothing until we submit to them.

Let's not allow Mary's death to be forgotten. Always remember her, and the other 2,995 victims who died at the WTC that day. Also honor and remember the 184 victims of the attack at the Pentagon, and the heroes of United Flight 93 who willingly gave up their lives to avoid another target.

Honor them today, at the 5th anniversary of the day that changed our lives forever.

Tags: World Trade Center, September 11, 9/11, Terrorist Attacks, Jihad, Mary D. Stanley

The Democrats against Freedom of Speech

Update: So far ABC is airing the series

I honestly have no words for what I'm feeling right now. This brouhaha about the 9/11 miniseries is well dumbfounding and something I thought I'd never see. I can understand the Dems wanting to correct factual evidence - that's understandable, and even some high profile conservative bloggers agree.

But implying a threat to pull ABC's liscence if it airs the mini-series? At first glance that could be blackmail, but it certainly is censure. Since when does the government tell me what I can and cannot watch? Since when do politicians go around threatening TV stations in order to control what is broad cast?

Farenheit 9/11 came out, amidst protests, calls of fraud, calls of defamation, calls of lies - some of which have even been proven. The government didn't censor the movie, and allowed it to play in movie theaters were people could pay to watch it. I say that if the Dems are going to make ABC pull the miniseries off the air, then I want it as a movie in a theater where I can go see it.

I am in shock, that the one value our nation can tout - FREEDOM OF SPEECH - is being raped, silenced, stifled. How dare they? I thought conservatives were supposed to be the fascists. Yet it is the Democratic Party the one engaging in the fascist behavior, the one blackmailing, the one censuring.

ABC is dead for me if they go along with the censure. The Democratic Party is dead and buried for me as well. Though I'm a registered Republican, and conservative, I do take an Independent approach to voting - always voting for whom I believe the best candidate even if it means crossing party lines. Well I'm sorry, no more. I will not condone this type of tactics and behavior.

AllahPundit has a GREAT post over at Hot Air, with multiple updates and great perspective. One of his updates is a link to Texas Rainmaker with a must read play by play post. George at BabaluBlog, is up in arms and does a run down about how liberals are the ones engaging in the behavior they accuse conservatives of, as well as a good round up of news links.

I'm of the opinion that this could affect the Dems in the mid-term elections as they are giving the mini-series added publicity - I for one had not heard about the series until the Dems started crying foul. If the errors are corrected, I don't think it says anything the public doesn't already know. It is a fact and common knowledge that the Clinton administration had the chance to take out Osama and didn't take it.

So what do you think?

Tags: Democrats, Freedom of Speech, 9/11, ABC, Disney

Inside Cuba Part II

I have not watched it yet, but here is Part II of the "Inside Cuba" documentary (a five part series). Part I is on the post below this one.

Tags: Cuba, Fidel Castro, Democracy

Inside Cuba

Inside Cuba

Found this in YouTube, it's the first of a five part series. So far it seems fair enough, and most importantly - it shows the misery Cubans live in....while showing the great house and computer equipment a younger Cuban working for Europeans has.

One correction though, people weren't volunteering to work in the fields. It was forced labor.

I will post the other four parts, on the next four days, with commentary.

Tags: Cuba, Fidel Castro, Democracy

What if I was running...

The Senate and State elections are coming up, and with all the political campaigning going around it got me thinking: what if I war running? What would my platform be?

My first priority would be Homeland Security. I'd stand for closing the borders while we as a nation can do the following:

Secure both land borders, and secure the ports. As my friend Marisol aptly said the other day, if your toilet is overflowing what is the first thing you do? Close the llave de paso or the valve faucet. Then you fix the toilet. Before we as a nation think of any immigration reform, we need to ensure our borders and ports. Once we have control of the influx of illegals, then we can proceed to look at how we will solve the situation of the ones inside.

Overhaul the Immigration system to ensure to the best of our abilities that visas are being extended to "safe" people. I would take a closer look at all visas being granted to people of Middle Eastern origin and Muslims. It may not be the political correct stance - but who wants to be politically correct?

As Christopher Shays (R-CT) said this morning on the Today Show, I would make the government draft a realistic and achievable timeline for transfer of patrolling and security to the Iraq Forces. Iraq has best worked when they've had deadlines to meet. It is human nature, we work hard to meet deadlines, we goof off when we have more time. Sense of urgency, that is what is needed here.

I would be in favor of placing term limits, and also limits on remittances sent to other countries - I'd be againts remittances to governments we do not support or have no relations with (yes that includes Cuba).

Speaking of Cuba, I'd keep in the embargo and repeal the wet foot dry foot law as well as the Cuban adjustment act. To put pressure on the Cuban government, I'd start treating Cubans just like any other immigrants. Perhaps if they cannot come here, they will do something to bring change in Cuba. Anyone who applied for political asylum would not be able to go back to their county until the government doing the persecution was gone. So no trips to Cuba unless your family is dying. I know this might not make me very popular but it's my opinion.

I'd take on the Welfare system and propose bills that would nudge people back to work and not to be dependent on Welfare. For example. I would limit the amount of kids that the goverment will hand out benefits for. No, I would not make it retroactive. But once it was effective, government would only hand out benefits for more than two babies. As such, I would also provide birth control and education free of charge so people can take ownership of their family planning.

While I'm not much of a socialist, I do agree on two things - healthcare and education. So I'd vouch for some sort of healthcare reform - not necessary free healthcare - but work towards reducing the frivolity surrounding the malpractice suits which has a lot to do with rising costs in healthcare. I'd work towards setting limits of awards, and raising the bar on proving malpractice. I'd also hunt down the lawyers and clinics that make a killing of accident fraud. Lastly, I would create a healthcare system for the poor. The less you earn, the less you pay - and force by law all doctors and hospitals to accept it. At least state hospitals.

Now education. We have a problem not only with urban or bad neighborhood school, we have a problem with the good schools too. I'd be in favor of improving the quality of education in the schools so that students are better prepared for college. While not taking all the money away from the more affluent schools, I would redistribute some of the money to the not so affluent schools, so they have a chance of improving. In addition, I would make a law that prohibits teenagers from dropping out of high school - in short, being a dropout would be a felony. Come on, who at 16 can take such a decision?

I understand the government has limited responsibility and we as citizens have to take more responsibility for our kids education - so that would be part of my platform too.

And how would I do all of this? I'd vote in favor of taxing the wealthy higher, and maintaining the tax cuts for those of us not so wealthy. I would not bend to any special interest groups. Of course, that wouldn't make me very popular, which is probably the reason why I'm not running.

So, what about you? What would be your platform?

Tags: Elections, Campaign, Republicans, Democrats, Government, Senate, Congress

Some Sense out of Venezuela

Presidential candidate Manuel Rosales, is the first to speak some sense out of the government of Venezuela. Currently the governor of the state of Zulia, he is the opposition's sole candidate to run against Hugo Chavez in December.

Yesterday he expressed that if elected he would revise all accords made by the Chavez government to ensure the benefit of Venezuela. The artcle is in Spanish, and I couldn't find it in English - but I've translated the "money quote" (emphasis mine).

Zulia state governor directly criticized the oil accord that Hugo Chavez maintains with Cuba since 2000.

He stated that "what cannot be is that we are financing, giving away to the Cuban government, to Fidel Castro, more than 100,000 oil barrels a day so he can maintain a tyranny and use this resources in non-democracy activites throughout the world."

Rosales, 54, said that he would fight so that Cuba "can be democratic, and for the liberation of the people" of the Caribbean island.

Tell whomever you know in Venezuela to vote for Rosales.

Tags: Cuba, Venezuela, Fidel Castro, Democracy, Hugo Chavez, Manuel Rosales, Zulia, Oil