Representative Kosmas,

I was extremely disappointed to hear the audio recording of your recent telephone town hall meeting in which you repeatedly stated your opposition to the public insurance option in healthcare reform. I have written to you previously about this and have been disappointed a second time by a lack of response at all.

If you truly value both the concept of true healthcare reform and the stated will of over 70% of Americans, then I strongly urge you to support the President's plan for the inclusion of a competitive public insurance option that will provide access for those needing or wanting alternatives to those provided by the insurance industry.

I supported and voted for you during the last election cycle hoping that you would listen to the will of the people on issues and not act on personal opinion alone. Please show me that my vote was cast wisely for you, and that you have the will to follow through with support for an absolutely vital piece of the healthcare reform package.

Link: http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2009/autos/0908/gallery.cash_for_clunker_trade_in/5.html

I volunteered for President Obama at the phone banks. I got my transparency, but I don't particularly like what I see.

This quote comes from an article on CNN Money talking about the Cash for Clunkers program. The person quoted, Michael Molino of Staten Island, NY, was apparently a little peeved that he missed the cutoff for inclusion into the program by ONE MPG.

After watching Dr Phil for a little bit last night with Cate, I quickly reached a point of disgust that actually made me feel like I had to just drop it and walk away.

Last night's much-hyped episode featured the so-called octo mom Nadya Suleman. Suleman discussed her much-publicised situation and took a few questions from the audience which is all fine and good. Dr Phil even went as far as to several times state that he thought what she did was irresponsible, selfish, etc, but now is now and we need to help her for the kids.

Whatever.

What really made me upset is the fact that there seems to be no effort underway to punish this woman and her fertility doctor for the reckless decisions they made. Even worse, while the general public attitude towards this woman borders on disgust, there seems to be an absolute lack of public demand for federal legislation that would at the very least highly discouragethis type of action. What the hell happened to personal, professional and social responsibility in this country? Why don't we care that these people (Nadya and her doctor) were at the very least morally and socially in the wrong and nothing is being done about it?

Carol Gilbert recently wrote an article regarding the Georgia legislature's bizzare response to the Suleman case, Georgia Senate Bill 169. While the legislation appears to be garbage that draws incorrect conclusions from the situation and appears more as political opportunism by right-to-life advocates than truly necessary legislation, Gilbert's following excerpt really hits home with me:

Octo-Mom Nadya Suleman's controversial decision to have 6 embryos implanted at one time through in vitro fertilization, a decision which led to the birth of the first surviving set of octuplets, sparked nationwide outrage. The press depicted Nadya Suleman, aka the Octo-Mom, as irresponsible. She was not a childless woman longing for a baby or even a parent of one or two children hoping to create a typical size family. Nadya Suleman has been widely reviled because she had 6 children ages 7 and under yet chose to have 6 embryos implanted at once- at a time when she was unmarried, unemployed, dependent on her parents and public assistance for support, and already overwhelmed by the responsibilities of caring for 6 young children.

Most of us already knew this, but let it sink in again- We, the voting public, allowed this woman and all that follow to do this. I'm not talking about restricting a woman's natural right to have children, so don't even look in that direction. What I'm talking about is that someone who is a single parent living at taxpayer expense who already has 6 children under 7 years old (!) was permitted by law without repercussion to have a whopping 6 embryos implanted in her that resulted in her 8 new children.

If you think this is ok, then I feel sorry for you because by accepting this you also reject the general concept of social responsibility, ignore the core issue of overpopulation, and totally dismiss the additional strain this places on already-broken, publicly-funded, social services.

Which brings me to the real question, did we ever really care about these things in the first place, or are we just going to keep chugging along like idiots into oblivion while things crumble down around us?

Please follow my lead and contact your state senators and district representatives and let them know just how disgusted you are with this situation. Below is the form email I sent to Bill Nelson, Mel Martinez and Suzanne Kosmas:

[name of senator/representative],

I am writing to you today to express my dissatisfaction with a lack of federal legislation that could have prevented Nadya Suleman's doctor, Michael Kamrava, from implanting 6 embryos at once in a woman whom at the time was unmarried, unemployed, dependent on her parents and public assistance for support, and already overwhelmed by the responsibilities of caring for 6 young children.

Please bring this subject to light amongst your colleagues and work toward introducing actionable legislation that will discourage and/or punish this kind of action by irresponsible doctors and parents and serve to reduce the resulting burden on taxpayers.

Thank you for your time!

Jonathan Walters

What say you?

Link: http://1stopkorea.com/nk-trip1.htm

Westerners snapping a pic with the 'Great Leader', Kim Il-Sung

Ever since I was stationed in South Korea at Camp Humphreys, I've had an interest in the reclusive Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), mostly known in the west as North Korea.

I'm even more fascinated with pictures and travel accounts that come from those English-speaking westerners lucky (or unlucky, depending on how you look at it) enough to travel there and experience firsthand what surely must be one of the strangest places on Earth.

Footage from the 2007 Arirange Mass Games in Pyongyang, North Korea

One of the more interesting accounts I've read lately comes from Scott Fisher, who amazingly enough was able to travel to the DPRK via China for four days in order to see the 2002 Arrirang Mass Games. His account is all the more interesting and amazing to me because he is an American citizen allowed to obtain a DPRK travel visa despite coming from one of the supposed worst of the corrupt capitalist regimes!

Anyone with even a passing interest in North Korea should check out his story about what really appeared to me to be one of the most interesting and surreal 'vacations' one could take anywhere in the world.

I just read an article on CNN Money that discusses the pros and cons of making assistance available to the 'big three' auto manufacturers in the form of federal loans, and I have to say that the more I read or hear about this, the more physically ill I feel.

Maybe its just me, but I thought that being a free-market capitalist society meant that we practised neutral patterns of market regulation with only minimal governmental intervention?

I understand that the auto industry in general is truly integral to the national economy, and that tens of thousands of workers and millions of consumers either directly or indirectly depend on it for their individual economic stability... But does that mean we should allow these inefficient behemoths to keep operating as they are at the taxpayers' risk?

Truly, these businesses cannot be allowed to fail outright. But that is what chapter 11 bankruptcy is for... Allow these businesses to keep operating, but use the law to force them to shed weight, trim up and return to profitability. If GM, Ford or Chrysler eventually go under even after using the chapter 11 safety valve, then good bye and good riddance!

I admit that I would be devestated to be an employee let go after years of service in that industry. But instead of waiting for Michael Moore to show up on my doorstep so I can cry on camera and plead for my job back on a theater screen, why not take this as an opportunity to start fresh in a new industry? Maybe even take a chance and move somewhere else?

No, not everyone can easily do this, probably very few can or would do it at all. But to me, that is the big problem... Not the failure of the US auto industry, but the failure of US auto workers and consumers at large to see the writing on the wall for the status quo and force a change on the auto industry.

After all, these were the comapnies that continued to bring us such great vehicles like the H3 and Escalade long after it was clear that fuel prices were generally on the rise and the days of cheap, unlimited and easy-to-access oil were long gone.

Enough has already been said about the pros and cons of Barack Obama's politics, of the historic nature of this election, etcetera, etcetera, ad nauseum...

What I did want to take the time to do is to write about my personal thoughts regarding his ascendancy to the post of president of our country from the perspective of an amateur historian, former soldier and private citizen.

I think of myself as politically middle of the road, and my party affiliation is officially Libertarian in order for me to feel as though I am doing a small part towards breaking the current two-party gridlock that is strangling our country. I'm absolutely sick of the corporate-controlled, big-business, big-money party politics, and I can't stand that Nancy Pelosi and Ann Coulter seem to now be examples of mainstream standard bearers for both parties, whereas a few decades ago we used to call such people the 'kook fringe'.

I almost didn't vote this year, mainly because I am admitantly quite pessimistic about the direction of our nation, its politics, and (more importantly) our culture, and I felt as though neither candidate was a truly positive option for the country. Obama's agenda is unfortunately far too liberal for me, and I personally think he was elected by and large for the wrong reasons by a mostly uninformed electorate. McCain, on the other hand, showed a fundemental lack of understanding on the core issues such as the economy, and his decision making on such important topics like his running mate seem just plain erratic and strange. In the end, I fealt like the only real choices for people truly desiring change were Ralph Nader or Ron Paul, neither of which had the slightest chance from the beginning... (thanks in part to our completely biased and fundamentally flawed media system)

But something happened over the last few days. No, my core beliefs and theories haven't changed, but I started to buy into Barack Obama's call to the banner of CHANGE.

To make a long story short, I did vote for him and can count myself as one of the millions that did. But I did this not because I didn't want to actually vote my convictions and choose Nader or Paul, or because I felt like I was just throwing my vote away by not voting Obama or McCain; I voted Obama because, like all Americans, I am ready for a change and I need something to believe in despite the poor economic outlook, continuing wars abroad, threat of terrorism, etc...

I just want to believe that this really is one of those Kennedy-esque moments that comes barely once a lifetime where the American people demand true change and tangible reform, and I don't think I could live with myself if I wasn't a part of that massive, crashing wave.

You said what I needed to hear, Mr President-Elect, but what I need you to do now is to make good on your rhetoric.

I'm not expecting miracles, just please keep your campaign promise to be the true agent of change that we all so sorely need to see in our government and culture.

Good luck, President Obama.

What's the only thing worse than the thought of Sarah Palin becoming the president of the United States should John McCain get elected and kick the bucket in office, you ask?

This:

That's right... If you have a way to flash a custom cartridge for a Nintendo DS, you too can download and be the proud owner of a copy of Obama Says: Yes We Can.

Jonathan Says: No Way In Hell will I ever think about downloading this Simon Says monstrosity. Don't get me wrong, I'm not an 'Obama hater'... (I discriminate equally against Republicans and Democrats) I just can't stand the commercialization and cavalier attitude towards the upcoming election, especially another one that is so important. I guess I'm just burned out on politics though, thanks to biased information outlets, ill-intentioned politicians and 24-hour-a-day garbage news networks.

On a lighter note, I think this is the only time you'll see me use the tags 'nintendo ds' and 'presidential election' in the same post. Hopefully...

Central Florida News 13, a local TV station here in Orlando, reported today that over 100 students walked out of class to protest the Orange County School Board's recent decision to swap the school starting times for middle and high schools.

The school board made this decision, much to the anger of many parents and students, because it will save the county nearly $6 million in fuel, labor, maintenance and bus replacement costs when it faces a nearly-insurmountable budget shortfall in the wake of budget cuts.

This is yet another example of the fallout resulting from the implementation of Amendment 1 earlier this year, mainly so home and business owners could receive tax relief in the form of expanded homestead and property tax exemptions. Floridians should not be surprised by these budget cuts, however, as before the vote bloggers and other sources of anti-amendment information were getting the warning word out and telling people what might possibly result:

The political groups against this amendment claim it would cause apocalyptic type service cuts and layoffs in police, fire, rescue, parks, and similar services. (School districts are exempt from most of the tax cuts and caps.) I do not know the validity of this claim. Obviously taxes would be cut, but over the last 7 or so years tax revenues have dramatically increased (nearly doubling in many jurisdictions) and the cuts are relatively minor in comparison to the increases.

As we have found out in central Florida, apocalyptic turned out to be an excellent word. The schools, law enforcement agencies, firefighters and recreational services, to name a few, are all feeling the severe budget-cutting effects resulting from the passing of this amendment.

Send an email to Charlie Crist and thank him for this abomination he so cheerily pushed on the people of Florida. Don't hesitate to also let your local representative know what you think too!

I know I did...