Discussing Liberally Salt Lake City

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General Info + Info re Next Meeting - WEDNESday, August 11th
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Our next meeting is WEDNESday Evening August 11th.

Ordinarily, we meet at the Salt Lake Public Library (210 East 400 South) - Conf. Rm. C in the basement (accessible by the SPECIAL elevator just inside the EAST entrance). HOWEVER, RSVP’S TO READINGLIBERALLY-SALTLAKE@JOHNKARLS.ORG BY SUN AUG 8TH ARE REQUESTED TO ACCOMMODATE A PROBABLE ONE-TIME-ONLY CHANGE OF LOCATION ON AUGUST 11 TO THE HOME OF TED AND TUCKER GURNEY = 203 FOURTH AVENUE (SINCE TED IS RECOVERING FROM SEVERE HEAD INJURIES FOLLOWING A FALL AND WE MAY, WITH 24 HOURS TO GO, HAVE TO MEET AT OUR REGULAR LOCATION AT THE SALT LAKE PUBLIC LIBRARY AFTER ALL).

Please join us for socializing from 6:15 pm > 7:00 pm or, if you prefer, come from 7:00 pm > 8:45 pm for our formal discussion. We provide coffee/decaf + chocolate chunk cookies - or bring a sandwich/quiche/dessert from the Library Branch of the Salt Lake Roasting Company just inside the EAST entrance - or bring your own snack/beverage.

Please skip to the second section below for information about the topic for August 11th.

PLEASE CLICK ON “VIEW THE HOMEPAGE” ON THE SECOND LINE AT THE TOP OF THIS BULLETIN BOARD TO FIND OUT –
(1) WHAT WE ARE,
(2) HOW TO SIGN UP FOR OUR WEEKLY E-MAIL,
(3) HOW TO POST/REPLY/EDIT/DELETE YOUR COMMENTS ON THIS BULLETIN BOARD, AND
(4) A LIST OF MONTHLY TOPICS WHICH WERE ADDRESSED SINCE THIS BULLETIN BOARD WAS INAUGURATED AUGUST 2007 AND FOR WHICH MATERIALS APPEAR BELOW IN REVERSE CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER.

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Last post by jimandellen
Sat Nov 15, 2008 12:40 am
Possible Topics – September 15th Meeting
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Click here to view possible topics for the September 15th meeting (participants at the August 11th meeting will vote on the topic for September 15th). If you would like to suggest a topic, it is requested as a courtesy that your suggestion be posted here beforehand so that others will have time to give it proper consideration.

Our September meeting will be the THIRD Wednesday evening of September because Rosh HaShanah begins at sundown on the second Wednesday evening. The dislocation should be minimal because each quarter there is always one 5-week gap between meetings and September 15th (vs. September 8th) will simply mean that the 5-week gap this quarter will occur before our September meeting rather than after it. We apologize for any inconvenience.

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Last post by TheChancellors
Sat Jul 17, 2010 3:27 pm
Original Proposal - Greg Mortenson's Stones Into Schools: Promoting Peace With Books, Not Bombs, In Afghanistan and Pakistan - August 11th

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Last post by Pat
Sat Jul 17, 2010 7:34 am
Participant Comments - Greg Mortenson's Stones Into Schools: Promoting Peace With Books, Not Bombs, In Afghanistan and Pakistan - August 11th

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Last post by johnkarls
Thu Jul 29, 2010 9:13 pm
Reference Materials - Greg Mortenson's Stones Into Schools: Promoting Peace With Books, Not Bombs, In Afghanistan and Pakistan - August 11th

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Last post by Pat
Tue Jul 20, 2010 7:11 am
Suggested Discussion Outline - The Broken Branch: How Congress Is Failing America And How To Get It Back - July 14th

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Last post by johnkarls
Sat Jul 10, 2010 4:26 am
Original Proposal - The Broken Branch: How Congress Is Failing America And How To Get It Back - July 14th

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Last post by UtahOwl
Sun Jun 13, 2010 10:18 am
Participant Comments - "The Broken Branch: How Congress Is Failing America And How To Get It Back" - July 14th

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Last post by Ted Gurney
Sat Jul 03, 2010 10:23 am
Reference Materials - The Broken Branch: How Congress Is Failing America and How To Get It Back - July 14th

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Last post by johnkarls
Wed Jun 16, 2010 12:00 pm
Suggested Discussion Outline - Arizona's New Immigration Law - June 9th

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Last post by johnkarls
Sat Jun 05, 2010 4:01 am
Original Proposal - Arizona's New Immigration Law - June 9th
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Proposed by solutions » Thu May 06, 2010 12:25 pm (78 views before being transplanted here)

I propose we discuss Arizona's new immigration law. The reading materials would be:

(1) the text of the Arizona law itself,
(2) the materials posted on this bulletin board for our discussion of immigration on 10 January 2007, and
(3) whatever current (or non-current) materials any of our members would like to post.

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Participant Comments - Arizona's New Immigration Law - June 9th

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Last post by BillLee
Tue Jun 01, 2010 5:37 am
Reference Materials - Arizona's New Immigration Law - June 9th
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Click here for, among other things, the text of Arizona's new immigration law.

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Last post by TheChancellors
Tue Jun 01, 2010 5:49 pm
Meeting Cancellation - After Iran Gets The Bomb (Foreign Affairs Magazine Lead Article) - May 12th
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The meeting is cancelled as of 9 May 2010. Please click here for particulars.

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Last post by johnkarls
Sun May 09, 2010 3:45 pm
Original Proposal - After Iran Gets The Bomb (Foreign Affairs Magazine Lead Article) - May 12th
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Click here to view the original proposal comprising --

(1) The Foreign Affairs article (11.5 pages),
(2) A NY Times news article (2 pages) putting the Foreign Affairs article in context, and
(3) An essay by (3 pages) providing a sharper focus for the NY Times article.

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Last post by Pat
Sat Mar 20, 2010 3:35 pm
Participant Comments - After Iran Gets The Bomb (Foreign Affairs Magazine Lead Article) - May 12th

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Last post by johnkarls
Mon May 03, 2010 9:09 pm
Reference Materials - After Iran Gets The Bomb (Foreign Affairs Magazine Lead Article) - May 12th
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The first three reference materials = The Foreign Affairs article (11.5 Microsoft Word pages), a NY Times article (2 pages) providing context for the Foreign Affairs article, and an essay (3 pages) providing sharper focus =

Even is one presumes Arabs are more gullible than Charles de Gaulle or the Israelis, both of whom refused to place any trust whatsoever in the American nuclear umbrella (as a result of which Israel for the last 37 years has not been the answer to the trivia question – What WAS Israel?) – (1) can mutually-assured nuclear destruction (“MAD”) work with Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei, or (2) is he more like Fidel Castro who, Soviet archives de-classified in the Glasnost era disclosed, was ready to fire the Soviet nuclear missiles in Cuba at the U.S. upon their discovery in October 1962 if Nikita Khrushchev hadn’t ordered the missiles removed from the custody of a “mad man” (Khrushchev’s term for Castro after receiving Castro’s offer to destroy himself and the Cuban people)).

This may be the most important issue facing the world today – since it is unlikely that more than a small portion of the human race would be able to survive without Middle Eastern oil supplies that have become radioactive. After all, losing most of the world’s oil production impacts not only transportation, but also the production of fertilizer and heating oil.

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Last post by Pat
Sun Apr 18, 2010 3:55 am
Suggested Discussion Outline - "The Shock Doctrine: Rise of Disaster Capitalism" - April 14

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Last post by solutions
Sat Apr 10, 2010 10:10 am
Original Proposal - The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism - April 14
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The focus will be "The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism" - a former NY Times bestseller by Naomi Klein, available from your local library or from Amazon.com for $10.88 + shipping.

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Last post by TheChancellors
Fri Mar 19, 2010 2:55 pm
Participant Comments - "The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism" - April 14

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Last post by Pat
Sat Apr 10, 2010 9:10 am
Reference Materials - The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism - April 14
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Click here for the NY Times Book Review of "The Shock Doctrine" -- the reviewer = Joseph E. Stiglitz, Nobel Laureate in Economics 2001; Columbia U. Professor; previously (among other things) Chair of the President’s Council of Economic Advisers (1995-97); Chief Economist of the World Bank (1997-2000); his latest book is “Making Globalization Word”

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Last post by johnkarls
Fri Mar 19, 2010 2:29 pm
“SIX-DEGREES-OF-SEPARATION” CALL TO ACTION = The Supreme Court’s Recent Corporate-Campaign-Contribution Decision - (ONLY 5 MINUTES NEEDED TO PARTICIPATE)
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If you agree with our legally-sound legislative response to the Supreme Court's 1/21/2010 decision to invalidate the restrictions of McCain-Feingold campaign-finance law on independent campaign expenditures of corporations and unions, please click here to participate in our six-degrees-of-separation campaign to request every American to contact both President Obama and Senator McCain to propose and support our suggestion.

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Last post by johnkarls
Sun Mar 14, 2010 11:23 am
Suggested Discussion Outline - US Supreme Court 1/21/2010 Decision on Campaign Contributions by Corporations - March 10

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Last post by johnkarls
Tue Mar 09, 2010 4:55 pm
Original Proposal - U.S. Supreme Court 1/21/2010 Decision on Campaign Contributions by Corporations - March 10
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Click here for -
(1) Pat's original proposal 3 days before the State of the Union Speech;
(2) NY Times news account of the Supreme Court Decision; and
(3) Reuters news account of President Obama's attack on the decision during the State of the Union speech and Justice Samuel Alito's televised reaction mouthing "not true" to the President's claims.

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Last post by Pat
Fri Feb 12, 2010 5:23 am
Participant Comments - U.S. Supreme Court 1/21/2010 Decision on Campaign Contributions by Corporations - March 10

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Last post by johnkarls
Fri Feb 26, 2010 11:15 pm
Reference Materials - U.S. Supreme Court 1/21/2010 Decision on Campaign Contributions by Corporations - March 10
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Click here to view, for example -
(1) the text of the Supreme Court decisions.
(2) a Feb. 10 OpEd Article by Ralph Nader Re Corporate "Free Speech."

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Last post by Pat
Wed Mar 10, 2010 12:46 pm
Suggested Discussion Outline - When China Rules The World - Feb 10th

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Last post by TheChancellors
Tue Feb 09, 2010 1:07 pm
Original Proposal - Martin Jacques' "When China Rules The World" - Feb. 10th
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Martin Jacques co-edited and co-authored “The Forward March of Labour Halted?, The Politics of Thatcherism” and “New Times.” Jacques co-founded the U.K. think tank Demos, has been a columnist for The Times of London, and was an editor of Marxism Today and a deputy editor of The Independent. He currently writes a regular column for The Guardian. He is a visiting senior fellow at the London School of Economics – Ideas (a Centre for the Study of International Affairs, Diplomacy and Grand Strategy) and a visiting research fellow at the London School of Economics - Asia Research Centre. He has recently been a visiting professor at Renmin University (Beijing, China), at The International Centre for Chinese Studies - Aichi University (Nagoya, Japan), and at Ritsumeikan University (Kyoto, Japan) and a senior visiting research fellow at The Asia Research Institute (National University of Singapore).

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Last post by Pat
Sun Jan 10, 2010 12:03 pm
Reference Mats + Participant Comments - When China Rules the World - Feb 10th -- including Suggested Answers to the Short Quiz and the NY Times Book Review on "When China Rules The World"

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Last post by SirArthurC
Sun Jan 31, 2010 5:19 pm
“SIX-DEGREES-OF-SEPARATION” CALL TO ACTION = The ONLY Way To Transform The Prevailing SINGLE-DIGIT Inner-City High School Graduation Rates to 65%-70% And Beyond - (ONLY 5 MINUTES NEEDED TO PARTICIPATE)

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Last post by johnkarls
Sun Jan 17, 2010 7:09 am
Suggested Discussion Outline - Oprah Winfrey's "Precious" - Jan. 13th

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Last post by johnkarls
Sun Jan 10, 2010 6:52 am
Original Proposal - Continuing Our Oprah Tradition With "Precious" – Jan 13th
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Three years ago, which was two years before the 2008 election, we read "The Audacity of Hope" and "Dreams From My Father" because a new U.S. Senator from Illinois who took office only 22 months earlier had just been recommended for President of the U.S. by Oprah Winfrey.

This coming Wed Jan 13th, we will focus on the story of "Precious" =

(A) the movie currently showing in first-run theaters for which Oprah Winfrey is the moving force (listed as the first of 4 Executive Producers) and starring Mariah Carey as the social worker of Clareece "Precious" Jones; and

(B) the book version which was originally named "Push" but has been re-printed in paperback as "Precious" - available in your local library or for $8.47 + shipping from Amazon.com.

For further information, click here for NPR's "Everything Considered" item of 11/6/2009.

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Last post by johnkarls
Wed Nov 25, 2009 4:17 pm
Participant Comments and Reference Materials - Continuing Our Oprah Tradition With “Precious” – Jan 13th

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Last post by johnkarls
Sat Jan 02, 2010 4:59 am
“SIX-DEGREES-OF-SEPARATION” CALL TO ACTION = Eliminating Unemployment With A “National Security Work Force” (ONLY 5 MINUTES NEEDED TO PARTICIPATE)

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Last post by johnkarls
Sat Dec 12, 2009 12:59 am
Original Proposal - Dorothy Kearns Goodwin's Pulitzer-Prize Winning "No Ordinary Time: Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt: The Home Front in World War II" - Dec. 9
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We will focus on Dorothy Kearns Gooodwin’s Pulitzer Prize winning “No Ordinary Time: Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt: The Home Front in World War II” (available from your local library or from Amazon.com for $13.64 + shipping) with special emphasis on FDR’s “Economic Bill of Rights” from his 1944 “State of the Union” Speech, given 10 months before his re-election for a fourth term and a mere 15 months before he died in office –

1. The right to a useful and remunerative job in the industries or shops or farms or mines of the nation;

2. The right to earn enough to provide adequate food and clothing and recreation;

3. The right of every farmer to raise and sell his products at a return which will give him and his family a decent living;

4. The right of every businessman, large and small, to trade in an atmosphere of freedom from unfair competition and domination by monopolies at home or abroad;

5. The right of every family to a decent home;

6. The right to adequate medical care and the opportunity to achieve and enjoy good health;

7. The right to adequate protection from the economic fears of old age, sickness, accident, and unemployment;

8. The right to a good education.
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Last post by VictoriaNortonStrong
Sat Sep 12, 2009 4:21 am
Participant Comments and Reference Materials - Dorothy Kearns Goodwin's Pulitzer-Prize Winning "No Ordinary Time: Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt: The Home Front in World War II" - Dec. 9

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Last post by BillV
Wed Dec 09, 2009 7:19 am
"SIX DEGREES OF SEPARATION" CALL TO ACTION - General Motors & the EPA Perpetrating Fraud Re the Chevrolet Volt (ONLY 5 MINUTES NEEDED TO PARTICIPATE)

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Last post by solutions
Sat Nov 28, 2009 5:02 am
Original Proposal - General Motors + the EPA Perpetrating Fraud Re the Chevrolet Volt - Nov 18
Originally proposed by Pat on 17 August 2009
361 views before being transplanted here on 24 October 2009

There is no assigned book this month. However, there is a wealth of materials posted on this bulletin board from previous discussions of the environmental disaster that is a coal-fired or natural-gas fired electrical-generation plant =

(1) For 6 September 2007 (23 months ago) – “Electricity - The Biggest Polluter” posted under Participant Comments on “Assault on Reason”

(2) For 11 October 2007 (22 months ago) – everything posted for that date as we focused on “Big Coal: The Dirty Secret Behind America’s Energy Future” by Jeff Goodell © 2006 (available from your local library or in paperback from Amazon.com for $9.50 new/$1.29 used + shipping).

(3) For 9 July 2008 (13 months ago) – Q&A No. 4 posted under Participant Comments on “Everything About Oil”

(4) For 12 November 2008 (9 months ago) – The Entire First Quiz and Suggested Answers as we were focusing on Al Gore’s Challenge to America – focusing on the disappointing championing by Barack Obama of the coal industry IN OPPOSITION TO AL GORE!!!
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Last post by Pat
Sat Oct 24, 2009 7:37 am
Participant Comments - General Motors and the EPA Perpetrating Fraud Re the Chevrolet Volt - Nov 18

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Last post by solutions
Wed Nov 11, 2009 11:07 am
Reference Materials – General Motors and the EPA Perpetrating Fraud Re the Chevrolet Volt – Nov 18
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Electric motors are 4 TIMES THE ENVIRONMENTAL DISASTER as gasoline engines of equal power, because all new electrical-generation plants for many decades have been (and for the foreseeable future will be) fueled by coal (or in a few cases by natural gas, which is also a hydrocarbon producing the same amount of greenhouse gases) -- AND 75% OF THE ENERGY CONTENT OF THE COAL OR NATURAL GAS IS EXPENDED IN GENERATING THE ELECTRICITY!!!

The Chevrolet Volt, which General Motors estimates will get 230 miles per gallon of gasoline in city driving, IS A FRAUD FROM AN ENVIRONMENTAL VIEWPOINT!!!

The Volt is a “plug in” electric vehicle with a range of 40 miles. So for the first 40 miles of each trip, the Volt’s mileage on the basis of gasoline consumption is infinite.

However, when the Volt has traveled 40 miles and its batteries are exhausted, it has a gasoline engine that, INSTEAD OF POWERING THE CAR DIRECTLY, kicks in to power a generator which re-charges the batteries to keep the car running!!!

So, for the portion of any trip over 40 miles, the Volt’s mileage as measured by gasoline consumption is going to be 25% of the mileage of a conventional gasoline-powered automobile (assuming that the Volt loses the same 75% in electrical generation as the country’s electric utility industry).

So if you assume virtually all of your driving comprises trips exceeding 40 miles each, your mileage in terms of gasoline is 25% of a conventional gasoline-powered car. And if you assume all of your driving comprises trips of less than 40 miles between re-charging, your mileage in terms of gasoline is infinite.

Obviously, General Motors could have picked any number it wanted!!!

And it arbitrarily chose 230 miles per gallon of gasoline!!!

HOWEVER, THIS IS MISLEADING AND, INDEED, FRAUDULENT BECAUSE IT IS DESIGNED TO FOOL THE PUBLIC INTO BELIEVING THAT THE VOLT IS ENVIRONMENTALLY DESIRABLE -- RATHER THAN THE ENVIRONMENTAL DISASTER THAT IT IS!!!

The two oldest items (in terms of time/date posted) are stories in the New York Times and Wall Street Journal, both dated 11 August 2009, that were included by Pat in the original proposal of this topic on 17 August 2009 to demonstrate how the country’s media uncritically bought the fraud perpetrated by General Motors’ announcement of 230 miles per gallon for the Volt.

The next 2 articles (in terms of time/date posted) result from Googling “Chevrolet Volt” on 3 November 2009. More than half of the top 50 “hits” were General Motors web sites and virtually all of the rest were regurgitations of General Motors propaganda. Virtually the only 2 exceptions =

The U.S. News & World Report article of 11 August 2009 which, unlike the gullible NY Times and the gullible Wall Street Journal, actually explained the fraud that General Motors was perpetrating.

The year-old Car and Driver article of October 2008 which, after discussing at length such issues as styling and the tremendous extra costs of the batteries, etc., finally reported uncritically the claims of General Motors regarding the cost of the plug-in electricity on a per-mile basis vs. gasoline costs.

First, General Motors claims regarding the cost of the electricity are suspect, since they almost certainly contain quite a bit of hydroelectric power which costs virtually nothing -- but no new dams have been built in the U.S. for many decades.

Second, even the cost of electricity from a coal-fired electrical plant is not a true measure of the environmental disaster that a coal-fired electrical plant is, because the price of coal is always a mere fraction of the cost of crude oil if they are compared in terms of energy content.

Third, General Motors ignores the 75% environmental disaster from its gasoline engine kicking in after 40 miles between re-charging.

SO FOR BOTH THE FIRST 40 MILES BETWEEN RE-CHARGING AND THE ADDITIONAL MILES WHEN THE GASOLINE ENGINE KICKS IN TO GENERATE MORE ELECTRICITY, THE VOLT IS AN ENVIRONMENTAL DISASTER!!!
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Last post by Pat
Sun Nov 15, 2009 1:18 am
CALL TO ACTION - "American Policy Toward Palestinians = The Key to Middle-East Peace" - ONLY 5 MINUTES NEEDED TO PARTICIPATE

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Last post by johnkarls
Mon Oct 19, 2009 4:23 am
Original Proposal - American Policy Toward Israel - Oct 14th
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American Policy Toward Israel including (1) former Vice President Cheney telling Mike Wallace Aug 30 that he had strongly advocated attacking Iran's nuclear facilities while Vice President, (2) the Wall Street Journal Lead Editorial Aug 31 saying Israel is about to attack Iran's nuclear facilities after very-publicly "war gaming" attack scenarios WITH EGYPTIAN COOPERATION, (3) the announced intention of the Gulf State Six (Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Oman) TO EACH GO NUCLEAR if Iran acquires nuclear weapons, and (4) Iran's reaction to the military threat from Israel and Egypt by requesting the United Nations to condemn at a September meeting any attack on anybody's nuclear facilities under any circumstances.

Our suggested reading is "A Safe Haven: Harry S. Truman and the Founding of Israel" by Allis Radosh and Ronald Radosh - available from your local library or from Amazon.com ($18.47 new or $15.11 used - plus shipping, or $9.99 electronically). And for extra credit, "Israel is Real" (library - Amazon for $17.82/$13.75 + shipping) which, as seems to be suggested by the reviewer, takes the provocative view that Jews should not be fixated on having a homeland despite the fact that Jewish refugees fleeing Hitler were denied admission by the rest of the world and sent back to Germany. The NY Times Reviews of both books are posted here.
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Last post by solutions
Mon Aug 31, 2009 8:12 pm
Participant Comments - American Policy Toward Israel - Oct 14th

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Last post by BillV
Thu Oct 08, 2009 4:31 am
Background Materials - American Policy Toward Israel - Oct 14th
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Please see especially “U.N. Information on Palestinian Refugees” and “General Arab Population + Income Stats”

The Suggested Answers to the Short Quiz in the Preceding Section on “Participant Comments” traced the history of Israel-Palestine for the last 2,000 years – AND ENDED WITH THE OBSERVATION THAT MERE “COST EFFECTIVENESS” WOULD DICTATE THAT THE UNITED STATES OFFER TO MAKE EACH PALESTINIAN REFUGEE (WOMAN, MAN OR CHILD) A MILLIONAIRE ON CONDITION THAT S/HE USE THE MONEY TO LEAVE THE REFUGEE CAMPS AND GET A REAL LIFE!!! BECAUSE DECIDING (EVEN UNCONSCIOUSLY) TO LET THIS SITUATION FESTER FOR ANOTHER 60 YEARS WILL ALMOST CERTAINLY END SOONER IN A NUCLEAR BATTLE OF ARMAGEDDON PRODUCING A WORLDWIDE “TWILIGHT OF THE HUMANS”!!!

The 9/28/2009 posting on “U.N. Information on Palestinian Refugees” takes a look at the United Nation’s own web site for the U.N. Relief and Agency Works which, since 1950, has registered the Palestinian refugees and run refugee camps for them. In 1950, there were only 750,000 Palestinian refugees. Today, they have multiplied to 4.6 million – with 1.3 million of that total living in the U.N. refugee camps in near-abject poverty and the remainder faring little better. The U.N. camps are located in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, the West Bank and Gaza.

The 10/4/2009 posting on “General Arab Population + Income Stats” estimates that to raise the standard-of-living of the 4.6 million Palestinian refugees to the level prevailing in the 12 countries in the Arab League whose economies are not primarily based on oil, would require annual underwriting of $6 billion/year.

HOWEVER, WHAT WAS INTENDED BY THE OFF-HAND THOUGHT OF MAKING PALESTINIAN REFUGEES MILLIONAIRES WAS TO DO MORE THAN SIMPLY GIVE THE PALESTINIANS A “COUNTRY” COMPRISING THE WEST BANK AND GAZA – WITH ALL THE PALESTINIAN REFUGEES CONTINUING TO LIVE IN POVERTY IN THE REFUGEE CAMPS!!!

Obviously what is needed is more than a “land for peace” deal – SOMEONE NEEDS TO DESIGN AN ECONOMIC PROGRAM THAT WILL TAKE THE REFUGEES OUT OF THEIR CAMPS AND MAKE THEM PROSPEROUS!!!

The “first step” was the estimate of how much it would cost/year to simply raise the standard of living of the Palestinian refugees to the level prevailing in the other 12 non-oil Arab countries at $6 billion/year.

Now think about what could be accomplished if you took that amount of money for, say, 10 years and designed a real economic-development program for all 4.6 million Palestinian refugees – bringing all of them together in the New Palestine (or how many ever of them can be enticed to leave the refugee camps in Jordan, Lebanon and Syria). AFTER ALL, $6 BILLION/YEAR FOR 10 YEARS IS ONLY 33% OF GIVING EGYPT $3 BILLION/YEAR OF FOREIGN ECONOMIC AID AND ISRAEL $3 BILLION/YEAR OF FOREIGN ECONOMIC AID BEGINNING IN 1979 WHEN THEY SIGNED THEIR PEACE AGREEMENT – AND WE ARE STILL GIVING BOTH CLOSE TO THAT 30 YEARS LATER!!!

As a “ball park” estimate of what would be required, let’s assume that half of the 4.6 million Palestinian refugees are minors and that what we should be doing is providing each of them with a good education that will equip them to compete successfully in the modern world, and let’s assume that the other half are adults who, with some basic training, could handle the jobs that would go with economic development – construction, irrigation, agriculture, manufacturing, etc. If a careful assessment were made about what the comparative strengths would be for the new country of Palestine (assuming appropriate education for minors and training for adults), it should be possible to get rid of the refugee camps and bring prosperity to the Palestinians.

Unfortunately, it does not appear that anyone is giving any thought to doing this!!! Instead, everyone appears to be taking the attitude toward the Palestinians – “You can have your own country if you stop bothering everyone else” – BUT THAT WON’T SOLVE THE REAL PROBLEM!!!
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Last post by johnkarls
Sun Oct 04, 2009 12:06 am
Suggested Discussion Outline - Health Care/Insurance Reform - Sep. 9th

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Last post by UtahOwl
Wed Sep 09, 2009 9:31 am
Bill Lee's Original Proposal - Health-Care (or Health-Insurance) Reform - Sep 9th
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Our next meeting is THIS WEDNESday evening September 9th - Salt Lake Public Library (210 East 400 South) - Conf. Rm. C (special elevator just inside EAST entrance).

Join us for socializing at 6:00 pm DURING WHICH JANUS DANIELS WILL ACCESS PRES. OBAMA'S SPEECH STREAMING LIVE OVER THE INTERNET or, if you prefer, come from 7:00 pm > 8:45 pm for our previously-planned discussion of health care/insurance reform.

We provide coffee/decaf + chocolate chunk cookies - or bring a sandwich/quiche/dessert from the Library Branch of the Salt Lake Roasting Company just inside the EAST entrance - or bring your own snack/beverage.

THERE IS NO BOOK THIS TIME TO READ (our group voted for Bill Lee's recommendation that "we consider once more all aspects of health-care reform as it heads for final passage this fall") though there is quite a bit of information posted on our bulletin board = http://www.ReadingLiberally-SaltLake.org not only for this month but also for the last two times we addressed the subject 24 months ago and 5 months ago.
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Last post by BillLee
Sun Aug 16, 2009 11:13 am
Participant Comments - Health-Care (Health-Insurance) Reform - Sep 9th

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Last post by BillLee
Sat Aug 29, 2009 7:54 pm
Reference Materials - Health-Care (Health-Insurance) Reform - Sep 9th
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There is no suggested book to read for this month.

However for extra credit, you can skim the last four items posted in this section (they were posted as "replies" to Bill's proposal by two of our participants before Bill’s proposal was adopted) -

(1) An Op-Ed Article by the CEO of Safeway Inc. describing how they have lowered their health-care costs by 38% by charging employees for the extra actuarial cost of smoking and obesity (which is reminiscent of the "U.K. Fat Tax" Proposal by Oxford University posted on our web site for our discussion 24 months ago);

(2) An Op-Ed Article by a Wharton Professor of Health-Care Management and Insurance/Risk Management about incenting good behavior in general;

(3) A Washington Post news report on the July 16 Congressional Budget Office Report on how none of the health-care bills in Congress control costs - touching off the firestorm of opposition that is still raging; and

(4) Utah Owl's recommended web sites for info about the issue.

Also of pivotal interest in understanding the debate about so-called “death panels” is the Wikipedia article on “Quality-Adjusted Life Years” (or “QALY”) which explains how insurance policies (both employer-provided and individual policies) determine what procedures will be covered. And the article by Harvard Econ Prof Marty Feldstein (former Chair of the President’s Council of Economic Advisers) mentions, among other interesting points, that Britain’s National Health Service will only cover procedures that cost less than £ 30,000 (or $49,685) per QALY. It should be noted that so-called “gold-plated” employer-provided health-insurance plans range as high as $500,000 per QALY.

And for anyone interested in additional background material to supplement current news reports, there is quite a bit of interesting material posted on this bulletin board for the last two times we discussed health care - 24 months ago and 5 months ago.

THERE IS A GOOD CHANCE OUR DISCUSSION WILL RESULT IN ONE OF OUR "SIX DEGREES OF SEPARATION" APPEALS FOR EVERYONE TO E-MAIL PRESIDENT OBAMA WITH RESPECT TO A PARTICULAR OPPORTUNITY, AND FOR EVERYONE TO REQUEST THEIR FRIENDS AND ACQUAINTANCES TO DO THE SAME IN AN UNENDING CHAIN.
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7 Topics

7 Posts

Last post by solutions
Thu Aug 20, 2009 5:13 am
Original Proposal - Three Cups of Tea - August 12th
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Our focus will be Utah Owl’s recommendation of “Three Cups of Tea” by Greg Mortenson – about one American mountain climber’s struggle to build schools in Pakistan’s mountainous tribal region, home of Al Qaeda.

Available from your local library or from Amazon.com in Paperback for $9.00 new/$3.97 used + shipping.
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1 Topics

1 Posts

Last post by UtahOwl
Sun Jul 12, 2009 6:07 am
Participant Comments - "Three Cups of Tea" - Aug. 12th

9 Topics

9 Posts

Last post by solutions
Sat Aug 08, 2009 10:14 am
Suggested Discussion Outline - How to Change The World - July 8th

1 Topics

1 Posts

Last post by johnkarls
Sat Jul 04, 2009 8:48 am
Original Proposal - How To Change The World - July 8th
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Our focus will be “How To Change The World: Social Entrepreneurs and the Power of New Ideas” By David Bornstein (available from your local library or from Amazon.com for $10.85 + shipping).

Nelson Mandela –
“Wonderfully hopeful and enlightening…The stories of these social entrepreneurs will inspire and encourage many people who seek to build a better world.”

NY Times –
“The book is must reading for anyone who cares about building a more equitable, and therefore more stable, world.”

1 Topics

1 Posts

Last post by Pat
Sat Apr 25, 2009 3:57 am
Participant Comments - How To Change The World - July 8th

2 Topics

2 Posts

Last post by johnkarls
Sat Jun 27, 2009 4:15 pm
Reference Materials - How To Change The World - July 8th
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Although the NY Times has never published formal book reviews of either of David Bornstein’s two most famous books (“The Price of a Dream: The Story of the Grameen Bank” which probably provided the publicity that garnered the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize for the Grameen Bank and its founder, Muhammad Yunus, and our current focus “How To Change The World: Social Entrepreneurs and the Power of New Ideas” which was a NY Times Hardcover Bestseller), this section contains –

Two articles that focus primarily on Bornstein and “How to Change the World” –

(1) A Social Solution, Without Going the Nonprofit Route – 3/4/2009
(2) Of Globalization and the Greater Good – 2/22/2004

and two Letters to the Editor of the NY Times by David Bornstein and the articles that provoked him –

(1) A Nobel Prize for Wal-Mart? – 10/20/2006
(2) Inch By Inch, A Lifeline For The Poor – 5/2/2004
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4 Topics

4 Posts

Last post by johnkarls
Sun Jun 28, 2009 8:38 am
Suggested Discussion Outline - Come Home America - June 10

1 Topics

1 Posts

Last post by johnkarls
Sat Jun 06, 2009 3:49 am
Original Proposal - Come Home America - June 10
We will focus on Utah Owl’s recommendation of William Greider's new book, “Come Home, America: The Rise and Fall (and Redeeming Promise) of Our Country” on his ideas about why America is losing its global leadership position and how ordinary people can use profound global changes at hand to build a more equitable society. You can download audio of Diane Rehm's interview with Greider at http://wamu.org/programs/dr/09/04/08.php#25615 - second segment of this show. The book is available at your local library or from Amazon.com for $16.52 new & $14.17 used + shipping.

1 Topics

1 Posts

Last post by UtahOwl
Sat May 16, 2009 11:25 am
The Banking Imbroglio - Come Home America - June 10
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Considerable e-mail correspondence has been received from our members on the subjects of “toxic assets,” the “mark-to-market” rules, the bank “stress tests” and now this week’s announcement that virtually all of the large banks (except Citibank, Wells Fargo and Bank of America) will be permitted to repay the U.S. government for loans made to them under TARP.

These materials have been posted for everyone to read because “Come Home America” (as well as William Greider’s previous best-selling books) have focused to a considerable extent on economic problems. And because posting them for everyone to see should facilitate our discussion this evening.

Apparently, the reason why so much e-mail has been directed toward me is that I majored in economics in college before attending Harvard Law School and, I am guessing, the authors of the e-mails thought I had sounded knowledgeable in past postings on our bulletin board when we had discussed economic issues. In addition, much of this issue deals with the “mark-to-market” accounting rule and I did receive the Sells Silver Medal for ranking 2d out of 28,788 candidates nationally on the Fall 1971 Uniform CPA Exam.

(I hope readers will NOT assume that this is an attempt to brag, but merely an attempt to re-assure them that my comments can be accepted with some degree of accuracy.)

3 Topics

3 Posts

Last post by johnkarls
Wed Jun 10, 2009 10:37 am
Participant Comments - Come Home America - June 10
THIS SECTION CONTAINS A TRANSCRIPT OF PRESIDENT OBAMA'S JUNE 4 CAIRO SPEECH FOLLOWING THE SUGGESTED ANSWERS TO THE SHORT QUIZ (since it relates to Q&A 12).

2 Topics

4 Posts

Last post by Pat
Fri Jun 05, 2009 7:44 pm
Reference Materials - Come Home America - June 10
We will focus on Utah Owl's recommendation of William Greider's new book, "Come Home, America: The Rise and Fall (and Redeeming Promise) of Our Country" (published by Rodale 3/17/2009) - available at your local library or from Amazon.com for $17.13 new or $15.00 used + shipping.

2 Topics

2 Posts

Last post by johnkarls
Sun May 31, 2009 2:41 am
CALL TO ACTION - The ONLY Way To Transform SINGLE-DIGIT Inner-City High School Graduation Rates to 65%-70% - Only 5 Minutes Needed to Answer the Call to Action

1 Topics

1 Posts

Last post by johnkarls
Sat May 16, 2009 12:04 pm
Suggested Discussion Outline - A Report Card for U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan - May 13

1 Topics

1 Posts

Last post by johnkarls
Sat May 09, 2009 9:28 am
Original Proposal - A Report Card for US Education Secretary Arne Duncan - May 13
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Focusing on whether to re-direct our January 14th six-degrees-of-separation e-mail campaign on "Separate BUT UNEQUAL Public Schools" toward Secretary Duncan (please see this bulletin board below re Jan 14th for details).

Suggested reading = “The Obama Education Plan: An Education Week Guide” (available from your local library or from Amazon.com from $7.83 + shipping).

1 Topics

1 Posts

Last post by johnkarls
Mon Apr 06, 2009 7:33 am
Participant Comments - A Report Card for US Education Secretary Arne Duncan - May 13
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Our focus is Separate BUT UNEQUAL Public Schools and "The Obama Education Plan: An Education Week Guide by Education Week" (available from your local library or from Amazon.com for $14.95 (used $7.83) + shipping) and actions/decisions being taken by Education Secretary Arne Duncan.

We anticipate re-directing our six-degrees-of-separation e-mail campaign of last January from President Obama to Secretary Duncan who has an unheard-of $5 billion in the proposed budget over which he has 100% discretion and so far the Administration has been ignoring the only factor that can transform single-digit inner-city high-school graduation rates to 65%-70%!!! The budget will be approved in the next few weeks and a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to do something significant vis-à-vis educating inner-city kids effectively will be lost!!!

4 Topics

4 Posts

Last post by johnkarls
Tue May 05, 2009 11:38 am
Reference Materials - A Report Card for US Education Secretary Arne Duncan - May 13
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Our focus is Separate BUT UNEQUAL Public Schools and "The Obama Education Plan: An Education Week Guide by Education Week" (available from your local library or from Amazon.com for $14.95 (used $7.83) + shipping) and actions/decisions being taken by Education Secretary Arne Duncan.

We anticipate re-directing our six-degrees-of-separation e-mail campaign of last January from President Obama to Secretary Duncan who has an unheard-of $5 billion in the proposed budget over which he has 100% discretion and so far the Administration has been ignoring the only factor that can transform single-digit inner-city high-school graduation rates to 65%-70%!!! The budget will be approved in the next few weeks and a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to do something significant vis-à-vis educating inner-city kids effectively will be lost!!!

1 Topics

1 Posts

Last post by Site Administrator
Sun Apr 19, 2009 6:15 am
CALL TO ACTION – Human Intelligence vs. Surging in Afghanistan From 17,000 U.S. Troops to 70,000 and Beyond
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Click here for how to participate in our six-degrees-of-separation "Call to Action" to send (and have all of our friends and acquaintances send in an unending chain) an e-mail to President Obama respectfully requesting an explanation of why human intelligence capabilities, together with other programs that have been put in place since 9-11-2001, are not sufficient to protect America and its allies from potential attacks from terrorist organizations based in Afghanistan and Pakistan. And whether fighting an air war against the areas of Pakistan that are not controlled by its central government (thereby risking the extension of Fundamentalist-Islamic rule installed earlier this year in the Swat Valley to all of Pakistan) and trying to subjugate Afghanistan as a base to fight that air war when Afghanistan has never been conquered successfully for any length of time throughout recorded history, adds or detracts from our overall intelligence capabilities to detect and prevent terrorist attacks on America and its allies.

1 Topics

1 Posts

Last post by johnkarls
Sat Apr 11, 2009 1:18 am
Suggested Discussion Outline - Afghanistan, President Obama's Vietnam and Pakistan, His Cambodia - April 8

1 Topics

1 Posts

Last post by johnkarls
Sun Apr 05, 2009 1:44 pm
Original Proposal - Afghanistan, Pres. Obama's Vietnam and Pakistan, His Cambodia - April 8
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Focusing on --

(1) Newsweek's Cover Story for 2/9/2009 entiled "Obama's Vietnam" (posted here and under "Reference Materials" two sections below).

(2) "Counterinsurgency: Theory and Practice" by David Galula - considered "The Bible" by US General David Patraeus and required reading at the US Army's Command and General Staff School - available at your local library or from Amazon.com for $26.95 + shipping (unfortunately, the price is currently quite high due to extraordinary current demand from the U.S. media).

(3) The movie "Charlie Wilson's War" (2007) starring Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts, Philip Seymour-Hoffman and Amy Adams about one US Congressperson's covert expulsion of the Russians from Afghanistan in the 1980's - which raises the obvious question of why we think we can be more successful than the Russians in subjugating Afghanistan.

(*) For extra credit, read "The US Army/Marine Corps Counterinsurgency Field Manual" (2007) by David Patraeus which is surprisingly readable - available at your local library or from Amazon.com for $10.20 (new) or $8.50 (used) + shipping.

1 Topics

5 Posts

Last post by johnkarls
Thu Mar 05, 2009 6:40 am
Participant Comments - Afghanistan, Pres. Obama's Vietnam and Pakistan, His Cambodia - April 8

2 Topics

2 Posts

Last post by johnkarls
Thu Mar 26, 2009 8:00 pm
Reference Materials - Afghanistan, Pres. Obama's Vietnam and Pakistan, His Cambodia - April 8
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Press here to view, among other things --

(1) The text of the Newsweek cover story for February 9, 2009 entitled "Obama's Vietnam"

(2) The NY Times 2/16/2009 story = "Pakistan Grants Autonomy to Swat Valley"

(3) Defense Secretary Gates on Pakistan "Safe Havens" for The Taliban and Al Qaeda Pivotal in Afgahnistan War

(4) President Obama's Official New Policy Announced March 27th per WhiteHouse.com

(5) "The Real Afghan Issue Is Pakistan – The President Has His Priorities Reversed" By Graham Allison and John Deutsch -- Graham Allison is the Founding Dean of Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government and the author of a book ("Nuclear Terrorism") on Osama bin Laden's fatwa to nuke 10 million Americans; he also served as Assistant Defense Secretary for Policy and Plans under President Clinton and was the "moving force" on the 2007 Democratic Congress' Commission on Preventing WMD Proliferation and Terrorism -- John Deutsch is a Professor at MIT and served as CIA Director in President Clinton's second term.

(6) News report that President Obama is mulling increasing his already-announced "surge" of 21,000 additional U.S. troops in Afghanistan by another 10,000 U.S. troops, for a total of 70,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan.
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8 Topics

8 Posts

Last post by johnkarls
Thu Apr 02, 2009 9:42 am
Suggested Discussion Outline - How Should Pres. Obama Reform Health Care - March 11

1 Topics

1 Posts

Last post by johnkarls
Sat Mar 07, 2009 9:38 pm
Original Proposal - How Should Pres. Obama Reform Health Care - March 11
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Click here to also view the article of the same title in The New Yorker of January 26th.

In addition, please read "Sick - The Untold Story of America's Health Care and the People Who Pay the Price" (Harper Collins 2007) by Jonathan Cohn, a Senior Editor at The New Republic (available from your local library or Amazon.com for $7.99 + shipping).

Please also see the voluminous material posted on this bulletin board for our August 2007 meeting 18 months ago.

1 Topics

4 Posts

Last post by UtahOwl
Thu Feb 26, 2009 6:40 pm
Participant Comments - How Should Pres. Obama Reform Health Care - March 11

6 Topics

6 Posts

Last post by UtahOwl
Wed Mar 11, 2009 4:50 pm
Suggested Discussion Outline - Saving the Democratic Party from Extinction: Foreign Policy - Feb. 11

1 Topics

1 Posts

Last post by johnkarls
Mon Feb 09, 2009 7:47 am
Feb. 11 Topic = Saving the Democratic Party from Extinction - Foreign Policy
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The topic is "Saving the Democratic Party from Extinction - Foreign Policy" focusing on (1) last month's Report of the 2007 Democratic Congress' Commission on the Prevention of Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferation and Terrorism (Chaired by Bob Graham, 18-year Democratic US Senator from Florida who resigned to run for President in 2004), and (2) "America and the World: Conversations on the Future of American Foreign Policy" between Zbigniew Brzezinski (National Security Adviser to President Jimmy Carter and Democratic Party foreign-policy spokesperson on all the "talking head" shows during the recent 2-year Presidential campaign) and Brent Scowcroft (National Security Adviser to President Ford and the first President Bush) - moderated by David Ignatius of the Washington Post.

BOTH BRZEZINSKI AND SCOWCROFT WROTE OP ED ARTICLES OPPOSING AN INVASION OF IRAQ 7 MONTHS BEFORE IT TOOK PLACE – SCOWCROFT IN THE WALL STREET JOURNAL OF 8/15/2002 AND BRZEZINSKI IN AN UNSPECIFIED (BY IGNATIUS) AUGUST 2002 ISSUE OF THE WASHINGTON POST.

Last month's Report of the 2007 Democratic Congress' Commission received wide publicity for one of its conclusions - that the U.S. will likely face a terrorist attack using nuclear or biological weapons by 2013. It would be a shame for the Democratic Party to become extinct if such an event were to occur.

Last month's Report of the 2007 Democratic Congress' Commission is posted on our bulletin board = http://www.ReadingLiberally-SaltLake.org. Last fall's book of conversations of David Ignatius with Zbigniew Brzezinski and Brent Scowcroft is available from your local library,or from Amazon.com for $18.15 new ($15.50 used) plus shipping.

1 Topics

3 Posts

Last post by Pat
Sat Jan 03, 2009 9:38 pm
Participant Comments - Saving the Democratic Party from Extinction/Foreign Policy - Feb. 11

2 Topics

3 Posts

Last post by AaronStander
Sun Feb 08, 2009 10:34 am
Report of the 2007 Democratic Congress' Commission on the Prevention of WMD Proliferation and Terrorism - Feb. 11
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Click here to view the Report of the 2007 Democratic Congress' Commission on the Prevention of Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferation and Terrorism.

It is also available in PDF (Adobe) format at http://www.preventwmd.gov/report/.

8 Topics

8 Posts

Last post by johnkarls
Sat Jan 17, 2009 5:39 am
Other Background Mats - Saving the Democratic Party from Extinction/Foreign Policy - Feb. 11

3 Topics

3 Posts

Last post by Pat
Fri Jan 23, 2009 4:18 am
CALL TO ACTION - Separate BUT UNEQUAL Public Schools
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Please click here to see how you can participate in solving the problem of the permanent American under-class created and perpetuated by separate BUT UNEQUAL inner-city public schools.

*****
As of January 21, it may no longer be possible to send the original e-mail contained in this section to President Obama. He has transformed http://www.change.gov/page/s/contact into a single window announcing that the transition is over and providing a button for the user to transfer to http://www.whitehouse.gov, which has been transformed with the departure of former President Bush.

Although the transformed http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/ provides a new suggestion box, IT NOW CONTAINS A LIMITATION OF 500 CHARACTERS (INCLUDING SPACES!!!)!!! Neither his old Senatorial suggestion box nor his President-Elect transition suggestion box had contained any limitation.

The message in our e-mail of last Saturday for sending to President Obama with respect to Separate BUT UNEQUAL Public Schools is 1,633 characters (including spaces), and our e-mail following our November meeting for sending to President Obama to encourage him to embrace Al Gore's Challenge to America to re-power our electrical grid to be based solely on solar and wind was 1,251 characters (including spaces).

The following protest (containing 489 characters including spaces) was filed on President Obama's new web site at 11:05 pm MST on January 21:

Dear Mr. President:

Our Reading Liberally/Salt Lake organization would like TO PROTEST your new limitation of 500 characters for messages to you!

We frequently encourage all of our members to contact you (and to contact all of their friends in an unending chain to contact you) with regard to issues we are studying (please see http://www.ReadingLiberally-SaltLake.org for further info).

We suggest a limit of 500 WORDS would be more reasonable.

Thank you.

Sincerely yours,

John K.

*****
No auto-reply e-mail receipt (similar to the auto-reply e-mail receipts for the http://www.change.gov, an example of which is contained in the first item in this section of the bulletin board) has been received for the protest message even though it is only 489 characters long including spaces.

So we ran two tests.

(1) The original 1,561-character message was sent on January 22nd to http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/ by “cutting and pasting” the message into the “suggestion box” – it took all 1,561 characters but with no e-mail receipt, it is not certain the entire message (or indeed any part of it) went through.

(2) The original 1,561-character message was typed de novo (vs. “cutting and pasting”) into the http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/ “suggestion box” – which kept a “running count” of the characters (including spaces) AND DISABLED THE KEYBOARD AFTER 500 CHARACTERS!!!

*****
It is presumed that as soon as the White House staff discovers that “cutting and pasting” finesses their 500-character limitation (assuming the “cut and paste” test even went through on Jan 22nd), they will change their computer program to reject “cut and paste” messages exceeding the limit.

Accordingly, “solutions” has watered down our original e-mail message to President Obama (it is contained in the second item, time-wise, in this section) to comply with the 500 character limitation.

2 Topics

4 Posts

Last post by solutions
Thu Jan 22, 2009 11:40 am
Suggested Discussion Outline - Leaving Children Behind - Jan. 14

1 Topics

1 Posts

Last post by johnkarls
Tue Jan 13, 2009 10:51 am
January 14th Topic = Leaving Children Behind
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Examining the position of the National Educational Association (the largest union of American K-12 teachers) on "No Child Left Behind" and the 2007 decision of the U.S. Supreme Court that race could NOT be considered by the school boards of Seattle WA and Louisville KY in order to achieve diversity -- in determining whether to initiate a "Six Degrees of Separation" campaign to submit to the on-line suggestion box of our President Elect the suggestion of John Karls from November 2007 that regional (multi-district) magnet schools be employed to avoid leaving children behind while still complying with the new Supreme Court restriction (please see the November 2007 materials on "The Jena Six and the Supreme Court's Reversal of School Integration" on this bulletin board).

Suggested reading =
(1) the NEA position per its web site vis-a-vis No Child Left Behind, AND
(2) Jonothan Kozol, The Shame of the Nation: The Restoration of Apartheid Schooling in America (2005), PLUS
(3) for extra credit, Jonothan Kozol’s other books on inner-city education =
Death at an Early Age (1967)
The Night Is Dark and I Am Far From Home: Political Indictment of US Public Schools (1975)
Illiterate America (1985)
Rachel and Her Children (1988)
Savage Inequalities: Children in America’s Schools (1991)
On Being a Teacher (1994)
Amazing Grace: The Lives of Children and the Conscience of a Nation (1995)
Ordinary Resurrections: Children in the Years of Hope (2001)

1 Topics

1 Posts

Last post by solutions
Sun Dec 07, 2008 8:55 pm
Background Mats + Participant Comments - Leaving Children Behind - Jan. 14
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Please also read the following essays that were prepared 14 months ago when our topic was "School Desegregation and The Jena Six" -- the following essays are contained in the 8 November 2007 section below entitled "The Controversy That Is Bill Cosby" --

Inner-City Kids and Public Education
Inner-City Measured IQ’s
Pushers Recruiting Third Graders as Runners
Perceptions of Inner-City 5-Year Olds!!!
Typical Inner-City Conditions and IHAD Results

3 Topics

5 Posts

Last post by solutions
Sun Jan 04, 2009 9:48 am
Text - 2007 Supreme Court Reversal of School Integration - Leaving Children Behind - Jan. 14
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In 1896, the Supreme Court held in "Plessy v. Ferguson" that racial segregation in public elementary and secondary schools was constitutional provided that the minority schools were "separate but equal."

In 1954, the Supreme Court held in "Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka" that racial segregation in public schools is inherently unequal and therefore unconstitutional.

In 2007, the Supreme Court held in "Parents v. Seattle School District No. 1" that (quoting from the Court's own summary of its opinion (the summary appears in page 1 of the 8 pages of text posted in this section of the bulletin board)) -- "Further, the Court held that the districts, which did not operate legally segregated schools, denied students equal protection by classifying students by race and relying upon the classification in school assignments."

In other words, the Supreme Court approved a "Look Ma, no hands!!!" approach to segregated schools, where the "apartheid" school segregation as Jonathan Kozol terms it, is achieved by segregated housing!!!

In doing so, the Supreme Court didn't even have the grace to say that the schools for the segregated neighborhoods SHOULD BE EQUAL -- taking us back to the Dark Ages before Plessy v. Ferguson!!!

8 Topics

8 Posts

Last post by johnkarls
Fri Jan 02, 2009 8:33 am
Suggested Discussion Outline - "It's The Economy, Stupid" - Dec. 10th

1 Topics

1 Posts

Last post by johnkarls
Sun Dec 07, 2008 6:42 am
December 10th Meeting = "It's The Economy, Stupid"
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For those who may not remember, "It's The Economy, Stupid" was a constant reminder pasted by Bill Clinton to his shaving mirror for his entire 8 years in office.

Suggested reading = “Bad Money: Reckless Finance, Failed Politics, and the Global Crisis of American Capitalism” by Kevin Phillips, author of 12 best-selling books on American politics, a regular contributor to the Los Angeles Times and National Public Radio, and a political analyst for PBS’ NOW with Bill Moyers.

Published 4/15/2008 and available from your local library or Amazon.com for $17.13 new ($11.50 used) + shipping.

1 Topics

2 Posts

Last post by UtahOwl
Tue Dec 09, 2008 9:19 pm
Participant Comments - "It's The Economy, Stupid" - Dec. 10th

5 Topics

16 Posts

Last post by UtahOwl
Sat Dec 13, 2008 7:25 am
Reference Materials - "It's The Economy, Stupid" - Dec. 10th

1 Topics

1 Posts

Last post by johnkarls
Fri Dec 05, 2008 6:35 am
CALL TO ACTION - Al Gore's 10-Year Challenge to America
Our call to action asks all Americans to contact President-Elect Barack Obama to request him to champion Al Gore's Challenge to America to re-power America’s electrical grid so that within 10 years the grid is carbon free in order to (1) bring our economy back to life by creating American jobs, (2) achieve energy independence for our foreign policy, (3) eliminate our balance of payments deficit (borrowing $700 billion/year from the Chinese to buy oil from other foreign countries, many of whom hate us), and (4) constitute a major step in halting global warming.

Please see the details in this section regarding how you can participate!!!

2 Topics

2 Posts

Last post by johnkarls
Sat Nov 15, 2008 10:18 am
Suggested Discussion Outline - Al Gore's Challenge to America - Nov. 12

1 Topics

1 Posts

Last post by johnkarls
Sun Nov 09, 2008 7:30 am
Text of Al Gore's July 17th Challenge To Re-Power America's Electricity Grid Within 10 Years - For Nov. 12
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Our focus for WEDNESday November 12th is Al Gore's 17 July 2008 "Generational Challenge" to America to Re-Power Its Electrical Grid To Rely 100% (except for hydro which would remain in place) on Wind and Solar WITHIN 10 YEARS!!!

In order to (1) comply with Kyoto with 100%-clean electricity, (2) achieve energy independence for our foreign policy, (3) eliminate our balance of payments deficit (borrowing $700 billion/year from China to buy oil from other foreign countries, many of whom hate us), and (4) create American jobs.

Click on the title for this section for the text of Al Gore's speech.

1 Topics

2 Posts

Last post by UtahOwl
Sun Nov 09, 2008 6:03 am
To Go "Beyond The Call of Duty" - Info About Three Background Books - For Nov. 12
*****
Thomas Friedman's "Hot, Flat, and Crowded: Why We Need a Green Revolution--and How It Can Renew America" (Hardcover 9/8/2008 - available from your local library or from Amazon.com for $15.37 new or $10.95 used + shipping). Suggested by "solutions."

Thomas Friedman is a syndicated columnist for the NY Times and a prolific author. "Hot, Flat, and Crowded" is largely a non-technical version of Option C below.

*****
T. Boone Pickens' "The First Billion Is The Hardest: Reflections on a Life of Comebacks and America's Energy Future" (Hardcover 9/2/2008 - available from your local library or from Amazon.com for $17.79 new or $13.00 used + shipping). Suggested by "solutions."

T. Boone Pickens is a famous oil man who proposes long-term solar and wind in line with Options A and C - but notes that America has virtually unlimited reserves of natural gas and proposes tapping American natural gas immediately to eliminate political dependency on foreign producers and eliminate the $750 billion/year paid to foreign producers as a bridge until solar- and wind-power can be implemented on a large scale.

*****
"Carbon-Free and Nuclear-Free: A Roadmap for U.S. Energy Policy" by Arjun Makhijani (11/15/2007 - available from your local library or from Amazon.com for $12.21 new or $9.99 used + shipping). Suggested by "UtahOwl."

Arjun Makhijani is President of the Institute for Energy and Environmental Research (http://www.ieer.org). He has authored or co-authored many books, articles, and reports on energy, nuclear weapons and environmental issues. He has testified before Congress and appeared on national ABC, CBS, BBC, CNN, and NPR news programs, among others. He has written for the Washington Post, the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, Technology Review, and many other publications. He has a PhD from the University of California at Berkeley where he specialized in nuclear fusion.

3 Topics

3 Posts

Last post by johnkarls
Sat Oct 18, 2008 7:07 am
Additional Ref Materials - Al Gore's Challenge to America - for Nov. 12

2 Topics

2 Posts

Last post by solutions
Sat Oct 18, 2008 8:05 am
Participant Comments - Al Gore's Challenge to America - for Nov. 12

4 Topics

4 Posts

Last post by johnkarls
Fri Oct 31, 2008 7:17 pm
Suggested Discussion Outline - Team of Rivals - Oct. 8

1 Topics

2 Posts

Last post by BillV
Sat Oct 04, 2008 8:03 pm
Participant Comments - "Team of Rivals - Oct 8
At our September meeting, we voted to focus on Leslie Urry's recommendation of "Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln" by Dorothy Kearns Goodwin, Pulitzer-Prize winning Presidential historian and frequent guest on "Meet the Press" and "The MacNeil/Lehrer Report" (aka The Newshour with Jim Lehrer). It is available from your local library or from Amazon.com for $14.28 + shipping.

2 Topics

3 Posts

Last post by johnkarls
Sun Sep 28, 2008 5:36 pm
Suggested Discussion Outline - Barack Obama's Bible - Sep 10

1 Topics

1 Posts

Last post by johnkarls
Sun Sep 07, 2008 5:09 am
Participant Comments - "Barack Obama's Bible = Rules for Radicals" - Sep 10
"Rules for Radicals" by Saul Alinsky (available at your local library or from Amazon.com in paperback for $10.36 + shipping).

2 Topics

2 Posts

Last post by johnkarls
Sun Aug 31, 2008 6:26 am
Ref Mats - "Barack Obama's Bible = Rules for Radicals" - Sep 10
"Rules for Radicals" by Saul Alinsky (available at your local library or from Amazon.com in paperback for $10.36 + shipping).

2 Topics

2 Posts

Last post by johnkarls
Sat Aug 23, 2008 5:17 am
Suggested Discussion Outline - Aug 13

1 Topics

1 Posts

Last post by johnkarls
Sat Aug 09, 2008 6:49 am
Comments of Participants - Obama From Promise to Power - Aug 13

5 Topics

7 Posts

Last post by Pat
Mon Aug 04, 2008 11:05 am
Reference Mats - Obama From Promise to Power - Aug 13
Ordinarily, we provide the NY Times book review among other things. However, during the last month, the NY Times has replaced its extremely cumbersome search capability with one powered by Google, which is completely inadequate!!! No Boolean search terms, no date ranges, no listing of results by date, etc., etc. As a result, the book review for “Obama: From Promise to Power” could not be located!!!

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Suggested Discussion Outline - Everything About Oil - July 9th

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1 Posts

Last post by johnkarls
Mon Jul 07, 2008 7:50 am
Comments of Participants - Everything About Oil - July 9th

4 Topics

7 Posts

Last post by johnkarls
Mon Jul 21, 2008 3:41 am
Reference Materials - Everything About Oil - July 9th
Including NY Times Book Review of "American Theocracy: The Peril and Politics of Radical Religion, Oil, and Borrowed Money in the 21st Century" by Kevin Phillips

6 Topics

6 Posts

Last post by johnkarls
Tue Jul 01, 2008 6:07 am
Tim Russert Eulogies
This is a eulogy contained in our weekly e-mail sent Saturday June 14th between 6:17 am and 7:25 am MDT and the responses from some of our e-mail recipients. Please feel free to add yours.

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Last post by johnkarls
Fri Jun 20, 2008 4:48 am
July Meeting - Possible Topics (historical)

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12 Posts

Last post by Pat
Mon May 05, 2008 1:03 pm
Suggested Discussion Outline - "Infidel" - June 11

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Last post by johnkarls
Thu Jun 26, 2008 11:01 am
“Infidel” by Ayaan Hirsi Ali – for June 11
Ayaan Hirsi Ali came to the attention of the wider world in an extraordinary way. In 2004 a Muslim fanatic, after shooting the filmmaker Theo van Gogh dead on an Amsterdam street, pinned a letter to Mr. van Gogh’s chest with a knife. Addressed to Ms. Hirsi Ali, the letter called for holy war against the West and, more specifically, for her death. A Somali by birth and a recently elected member of the Dutch Parliament, Ms. Hirsi Ali had waged a personal crusade to improve the lot of Muslim women. Her warnings about the dangers posed to the Netherlands by unassimilated Muslims made her Public Enemy No. 1 for Muslim extremists, a feminist counterpart to Salman Rushdie. The circuitous, violence-filled path that led Ms. Hirsi Ali from Somalia to the Netherlands is the subject of “Infidel,” her brave, inspiring and beautifully written memoir. Narrated in clear, vigorous prose, it traces the author’s geographical journey from Mogadishu to Saudi Arabia, Ethiopia and Kenya, and her desperate flight to the Netherlands to escape an arranged marriage. At the same time, Ms. Hirsi Ali describes a journey “from the world of faith to the world of reason,” a long, often bitter struggle to come to terms with her religion and the clan-based traditional society that defined her world and that of millions of Muslims all over the world

Available from your local public library or from Amazon.com IN PAPERBACK for $10.20 + shipping

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Comments of Participants - "Infidel" - June 11th
“Infidel” by Ayaan Hirsi Ali is available from your local public library or from Amazon.com IN PAPERBACK for $10.20 + shipping

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4 Posts

Last post by SamGhosh
Sun Jun 08, 2008 3:57 am
Reference Materials - "Infidel" - June 11th
“Infidel” by Ayaan Hirsi Ali is available from your local public library or from Amazon.com IN PAPERBACK for $10.20 + shipping

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Last post by lesurry
Sun Jun 01, 2008 11:04 pm
Suggested Discussion Outline - Bush's Law - May 14

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Last post by johnkarls
Sat May 10, 2008 7:45 am
Eric Lichtblau's “Bush’s Law: The Remaking of American Justice” – May 14
Eric Lichtblau, NY Times reporter, won the Pulitzer Prize for his articles disclosing the Bush Administration's secret surveillance program. His new book "off press" 4/1/2008 focuses on the secret-surveillance program but also addresses the famous 2003 Justice Department legal memorandum (1) which gave the legal rationalia for "aggressive interrogation" techniques, (2) which was withdrawn 9 months after its issuance, and (3) which was recently made public as the result of an ACLU "Freedom of Information Act" lawsuit.

JOIN US AS WE COMPARE THE GENESIS OF THE NEXT WAR IN IRAN. IN THIS REGARD, PLEASE SEE QUESTIONS 1 & 2 OF "THE SHORT QUIZ" IN THE "PARTICIPANT COMMENTS" SECTION BELOW AND "BARACK AND HILLARY - STARTING THE NEXT WAR WITH IRAN BEFORE EVEN FINISHING THE LAST WAR IN IRAQ " (ALSO IN "PARTICIPANT COMMENTS")

Suggested by "solutions" on 4/3/2008

"Bush's War" is available from your local library or from Amazon.com for $17.79 + shipping or by e-mailing "readingliberallyemaillist@johnkarls.com" with the subject = "book loan requested."

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Participant Comments - "Bush's Law" - May 14
Eric Lichtblau's "Bush's Law: The Remaking of American Justice" available from your local library or from Amazon.com for $17.79 + shipping OR by e-mailing "readingliberallyemaillist@johnkarls.com" with the subject = "book loan requested"

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Last post by johnkarls
Thu May 01, 2008 11:36 am
Reference Materials - "Bush's Law" - May 14
Eric Lichtblau's "Bush's Law: The Remaking of American Justice" available from your local library or from Amazon.com for $17.79 + shipping OR by e-mailing "readingliberallyemaillist@johnkarls.com" with the subject = "book loan requested"

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Last post by johnkarls
Fri May 09, 2008 12:39 am
Suggested Discussion Outline - Apr 9th

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1 Posts

Last post by johnkarls
Sun Apr 06, 2008 12:33 am
Clone Rights: Involuntary Soldiers, Sex Slaves, Human "Lab Rats" Etc. - Apr 9
How would you like to be an involuntary soldier, sex slave, human "lab rat" etc. WITH NO CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS JUST BECAUSE (1) the stem cells from which you were created came from skin cells rather than an embryo, or (2) your DNA is only 99% of the way from chimp DNA to human DNA (or any of the chimp-human DNA combinations the Yale U Biology Dept has created and is creating)??? Re (2), how do legal classifications based on % of human DNA differ from legal classifications in the Old South based on % of African-American blood, or legal classifications in Hitler's Third Reich based on % of Jewish blood???

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Last post by johnkarls
Thu Mar 20, 2008 11:51 am
Participant Comments/Ref Mats - Clone Rights for Apr 9

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Last post by johnkarls
Sun Apr 06, 2008 12:39 am
Suggested Discussion Outline - Mar 13

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Last post by johnkarls
Sat Mar 08, 2008 7:03 am
Benazir Bhutto's "Reconciliation: Islam, Democracy and the West" - for Mar. 13
Benazir Bhutto was assassinated Dec. 27 while campaigning for Prime Minister of Pakistan. She had served twice as Pakistan’s Prime Minister (1988-90 and 1993-96, being deposed both times by the military). She was the first female to head the government of any Islamic Country. Her father, Ali Bhutto, also served as Prime Minister – he was executed in 1979 by the military government that deposed him. Benazir Bhutto received her B.A. in Comparative Government from Harvard, where she was Phi Beta Kappa. She then studied Politics, Philosophy and Economics (“PP&E”) at Oxford – the typical educational background of most British Prime Ministers (except Churchill who attended Sandhurst - Britain's West Point). While there, she was elected President of the Oxford Union – the first Asian woman to head Oxford’s most prestigious debating society. DISCOVER WHY BEING THE ONLY ISLAMIC NUCLEAR POWER (AND BEING THE SOURCE OF IRANIAN AND NORTH KOREAN NUCLEAR TECHNOLOGY) AND BEING HOME TO AL QAIDA AND THE TALIBAN MAKE PAKISTAN'S FEBRUARY 18TH PARLIAMENTARY ELECTION AMERICA'S MOST CRUCIAL 2008 ELECTION!!!

"Reconciliation: Islam, Democracy and the West" (Harper Collins 2008) is available at your local library or from Amazon.com for $17.54 + shipping.

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Last post by johnkarls
Thu Feb 21, 2008 11:30 am
Critiques of Benezir Bhutto’s “Reconciliation: Islam, Democracy and the West” - Mar 13th
My critiques in six major areas to “Reconciliation” are collected here. Most of them draw, despite dispensing with footnotes for the sake of brevity and simplicity, on having read 12-15 biographies and historical tomes annually for 33 years of marriage (and the 7 years since) to the co-author of the country’s best-selling H.S. world history text (McGraw-Hill with National Geographic maps/illustrations – now in its 6th edition and counting). Despite these critiques, it is impossible to express how utterly impressed I am with the incredible knowledge and understanding possessed by Benazir Bhutto, how completely devoted she was to the welfare of the Islamic world in general and her country in particular, and how incredibly brave she was in fatally confronting a military that had already assassinated her father and two brothers.

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Last post by johnkarls
Tue Mar 11, 2008 12:13 am
Background Materials - Mar. 13
Benazir Bhutto's "Reconciliation: Islam, Democracy and the West" (Harper Collins 2008) is available at your local library or from Amazon.com for $17.54 + shipping.

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Last post by johnkarls
Thu Feb 21, 2008 1:20 pm
Comments of Participants - Mar. 13
Benazir Bhutto's "Reconciliation: Islam, Democracy and the West" (Harper Collins 2008) is available at your local library or from Amazon.com for $17.54 + shipping.

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Last post by johnkarls
Tue Mar 04, 2008 6:16 am
DRINKing Liberally Presentation - Fri Eve Feb 29
The 2009-2010 “Old Congress” and Why “Change” Will Never Happen (Again)

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Last post by johnkarls
Tue Feb 26, 2008 8:00 am
Suggested Discussion Outline - Feb 14th

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2 Posts

Last post by johnkarls
Wed Feb 13, 2008 7:30 am
"The Best Gov Money Can Buy: Bribery and Extortion" - Text of Original Proposal for Feb 14
Or why Barack Obama doesn't have any greater chance to bring real "change" than William J. Clinton when he ran as "The Candidate of Change" in 1992 promising the same things now on offer from Barack Obama (such as health care, though now not nearly so universal as attempted by the Clintons in the 1990's).

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Last post by johnkarls
Fri Jan 11, 2008 10:44 pm
Proposed Solution to The Cesspool that is Washington DC - for Feb 14

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Last post by johnkarls
Sun Feb 03, 2008 11:05 pm
Background Mats - The Best Gov Money Can Buy: Bribery & Extortion - Feb 14th
Focus for discussion = Robert Kuttner's "The Squandering of America: How the Failure of Our Politics Undermines Our Prosperity" (Alfred A. Knopf 2007) - available at your local library or from Amazon.com for $17.79 ($14.89 used) + shipping

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6 Posts

Last post by solutions
Sat Feb 23, 2008 7:50 am
Illegal “Bribe” vs. “Legal” Campaign Contribution - Feb 14th
Alternate Title = The Crime of Telling the Truth!!!

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4 Posts

Last post by johnkarls
Sun Jan 13, 2008 9:26 am
Participant Comments - The Best Gov Money Can Buy: Bribery & Extortion - Feb 14th
Focus for discussion = Robert Kuttner's "The Squandering of America: How the Failure of Our Politics Undermines Our Prosperity" (Alfred A. Knopf 2007) - available at your local library or from Amazon.com for $17.79 ($14.89 used) + shipping

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5 Posts

Last post by johnkarls
Wed Jan 23, 2008 4:03 pm
Suggested Discussion Outline - Jan 10th

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1 Posts

Last post by johnkarls
Mon Jan 07, 2008 7:58 pm
Illegal Immigration = Topic for Jan 10th
Click here for BillV's provocative issues!!!

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1 Posts

Last post by BillV
Mon Nov 19, 2007 5:59 am
Participant Comments on Immigration - Jan 10th

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5 Posts

Last post by BillV
Sat Jan 12, 2008 7:05 am
Reference Materials - Immigration - Jan 10

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12 Posts

Last post by johnkarls
Wed Dec 19, 2007 12:18 am
Leading Dem Candidates on Immigration - Jan 10
Clinton/Obama/Edwards/Biden (top 4 in polling order as of Dec 16) positions per their official web sites. If your favorite candidate is not one of these four and you believe his position should be considered, please feel free to post it here. NB: NEITHER EDWARDS' NOR BIDEN'S WEB SITES LIST IMMIGRATION OR BORDERS AMONG THEIR ISSUES!!!

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Last post by johnkarls
Sun Dec 16, 2007 9:10 am
Leading Rep Candidates on Immigration - Jan 10
A wise person always considers what the opposition is saying - Giuliani/Huckabee/McCain/Romney/Thompson (top 5 in polling order as of Dec 16) positions per their official web sites. NB: (1) IMMIGRATION WAS THE FIRST ISSUE ON HUCKABEE'S WEB SITE!!! (2) GIULIANI'S WEB SITE DOES NOT EVEN LIST IMMIGRATION OR BORDERS AS ONE OF HIS 12 ISSUES!!!

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Last post by johnkarls
Sun Dec 16, 2007 8:55 am
Suggested Discussion Outline - Dec 13th

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2 Posts

Last post by johnkarls
Tue Dec 11, 2007 3:17 am
Call to Action - Meeting Report for Dec 13th
This posting comprises our first weekly e-mail following our December 13th meeting – our e-mail list has 108 members.

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Last post by johnkarls
Thu Dec 27, 2007 7:55 am
Is War With Iran Inevitable??? - Topic for Dec 13
Including Hillary Clinton's Repeated Bashing of the Bush Administration for "Being Soft on Iran" + Israel's Bombing Syria 9/6/2007 and Israel's Iranian Plans. These three postings include (1) Pat's original proposal of this topic, (2) the careful analysis on 9/18/2007 by the former Editor of the Jerusalem Post of what happened when Israel bombed Syria on 9/6/2007 (a subject about which nobody in the U.S. or abroad was saying anything, and about which very little continues to be said) and (3) the "Face the Nation" transcript for 10/28/2007 of Sen. Armed Services Chair Carl Levin (D-MI) and Minority Member Lindsey Graham (R-SC) for which Moderator Bob Schieffer said in his introduction: "The foreign-affairs focus of the major Presidential candidates, both Democrat and Republican, seems to have swung from Iraq to Iran. On the Republican side, Guiliani, Romney, et. al., seem to be competing to provide the most emphatic sound bite that they will stop at nothing to insure that Iran does not obtain nuclear weapons. While Hillary is acting as if she already has the nomination and is already waging a general-election campaign in which she appears to be just as belligerent/militant toward Iran."

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Last post by Pat
Mon Oct 29, 2007 9:14 am
Hillary's Bashing Bush as "Soft on Iran" - for Dec 13
Hillary's 1/18/2007 Princeton Speech + 4/24/2007 Speech to the National Jewish Democratic Council + Hilary as the lone Democratic Presidential Candidate to vote for the Kyl-Lieberman Amendment on 9/26/2007

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Last post by johnkarls
Mon Nov 12, 2007 2:20 pm
Action v. Deterrance (+ Detente) - for Dec 13
Summary of basic considerations for action v. deterrance vis-a-vis Iran's nuclear program (including the Islamic belief that Islamic martyrs by-pass The Judgment Day coupled with Osama bin Ladin's Fatwa to Nuke 10 million Americans (please see below for reference materials re the Fatwa)) + Foreign Affairs article on nuclear detente with Iran

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2 Posts

Last post by johnkarls
Mon Nov 12, 2007 1:40 pm
Bombing Syria 9/6/2007 Re Iran & N Korea - for Dec 13
Please see above “Is War With Iran Inevitable??? – Topic for Dec 13” for the 9/18/2007 analysis of Israel’s 9/6/2007 bombing of Syria and its connection to North Korea by the former Editor of the Jerusalem Post. The postings collected here comprise (1) the 11/11/2007 analysis by the NY Times of the Pakistani nuclear weapons with reference to the current Pakistani crisis, (2) the 9/25/2007 initial reaction of John Bolton to Israel’s 9/6/2007 bombing of Syria, and (3) the 10/31/2007 analysis of John Bolton THAT ISRAEL HAD BOMBED AN EXACT REPLICA OF NORTH KOREA’S NUCLEAR FACILITY BUILT IN SYRIA BY THE NORTH KOREANS TO CIRCUMVENT THE SIX-NATION TALKS REGARDING NORTH KOREAN NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT. (John Bolton was U.S. Under-Secretary of State for Arms Control (2001-2005) and U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations (2005-20006))

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3 Posts

Last post by johnkarls
Mon Nov 12, 2007 2:06 pm
Participant Comments Re War With Iran - for Dec 13
The first posting is by "solutions" and comprises the book review by the Wall Street Journal (probably Israel's strongest supporter in the American media) of "Failure Is Not An Option" by John Bolton (U.S. Under-Secretary of State for Arms Control (2001-2005) and U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations (2005-20006)). The fourth posting is the "Face the Nation" transcript for Nov. 25 re Condi Rice's Mideast Peace Conference involving 50 nations at Camp David and the inter-relationship between the conference and War on Iran/Iraq/Terror.

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Last post by achamberlin
Thu Dec 13, 2007 5:09 pm
Ref Mats - Osama's Fatwa To Nuke 10 Million Americans - Dec 13
"Action vs. Deterrence (+ Detente)" reference materials regarding the third reason for action vis-à-vis Iran (the Islamic belief that Islamic martyrs by-pass The Judgment Day coupled with Osama bin Ladin's Fatwa to nuke 10 million Americans) = (A) 9/5/2004 NY Times Book Review of “Nuclear Terrorism” by Graham Allison, the Founding Dean of Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, on Osama’s Fatwa (at that time to nuke only 4 million Americans); (B) 5/29/2005 “Meet the Press” transcript of then Sen Fgn Rel Ch Richard Lugar, his Democratic predecessor Sam Nunn and Messrs. Kean/Hamilton (9/11 Ch & Co-Ch) on Osama’s Fatwa (by then to nuke 10 million Americans); (C) 6/4/2007 proposal of current Sen Fgn Rel Ch & Presidential Candidate Joe Biden to threaten nuclear annihilation against any country whose fissile materials are used by a terrorist in a nuclear attack on the U.S.; and (D) 6/12/2007 proposal of Stanford Prof. William Perry (Clinton’s Sec/Defense) and Harvard Prof. Ashton Carter (Clinton’s Ass’t Sec/Defense for Intl Security Policy) to enact a federal law that the U.S. military (vs. state & local “first responders”) will be responsible for coping with the aftermath of nuclear terrorism and, in passing, blast Biden’s nuclear-annihilation proposal. NB: (1) Dean Allison believes nuclear terrorism is preventable by keeping track of fissile materials while Nunn/Lugar/Kean/Hamilton believe Allison’s approach is “locking the barn after the horse is out” and examine ways to DELAY TEMPORARILY nuclear attacks on the U.S.; (2) Biden’s nuclear-annihilation threat appears to be based on Allison’s “lock the barn” approach.

4 Topics

4 Posts

Last post by johnkarls
Wed Nov 14, 2007 11:50 am
Suggested Discussion Outline - Nov 8th

1 Topics

1 Posts

Last post by johnkarls
Tue Nov 06, 2007 1:06 am
The Controversy That Is Bill Cosby for Nov 8th

7 Topics

7 Posts

Last post by johnkarls
Mon Oct 22, 2007 5:57 am
Participant Comments - School Integration & The Jena Six - for Nov 8th

5 Topics

7 Posts

Last post by johnkarls
Sun Oct 28, 2007 2:34 am
The KKK - "All The Best People In Society Belonged" - for Nov. 8th
This item is a synopsis of a book copyrighted by the Univ. of California Regents documenting the pervasive influence of the Ku Klux Klan IN THE UPPER MIDWEST. Aaron Stander's addition calls attention to the pervasive influence of the KKK in New England.

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2 Posts

Last post by AaronStander
Sat Nov 24, 2007 8:43 am
Background Mats - School Integration & The Jena Six - for Nov 8th

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3 Posts

Last post by johnkarls
Tue Oct 16, 2007 8:47 am
Suggested Discussion Outline - Oct 11th

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1 Posts

Last post by johnkarls
Fri Nov 16, 2007 8:40 am
Participant Comments Re Global Warming for Oct 11th
Focus for Discussion = “Big Coal: The Dirty Secret Behind America’s Energy Future” by Jeff Goodell © 2006 (available from your local library or in paperback from Amazon.com for $10.17 new/$8.88 used + shipping).

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4 Posts

Last post by johnkarls
Fri Nov 16, 2007 9:08 am
Suggested Background Materials Re Global Warming for Oct 11th
Focus for Discussion = “Big Coal: The Dirty Secret Behind America’s Energy Future” by Jeff Goodell © 2006 (available from your local library or in paperback from Amazon.com for $10.17 new/$8.88 used + shipping).

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4 Posts

Last post by solutions
Sun Sep 16, 2007 2:23 pm
Suggested Discussion Outline - Sep 6th

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1 Posts

Last post by johnkarls
Fri Nov 16, 2007 8:55 am
Participant Comments on "Assault on Reason" for Sep 6th
.
This section was restored on 3 July 2009 – prior to sabotage, the following items had received –

270 views – U.S. Ports = Major Polluters
510 views – Electricity – The Biggest Polluter
467 views – Comments of John Karls on “Assault on Reason”
360 views – Al Gore and the 2008 Nomination
268 views – “Draft Gore for President” – Internet Grass Roots
.

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5 Posts

Last post by Sabotage Restorer
Sat Aug 29, 2009 10:21 am
Suggested Background Materials re "Assault on Reason" for Sep 6th
.
This section was restored on 3 July 2009 – prior to sabotage, the following item had received –

214 views – NY Times Book Review of “Assault on Reason”
.

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1 Posts

Last post by Sabotage Restorer
Sat Aug 29, 2009 10:09 am
Suggested Discussion Outline - Aug 2d

1 Topics

1 Posts

Last post by johnkarls
Fri Nov 16, 2007 9:04 am
Comments of Participants - Universal Health Care for Aug 2nd

2 Topics

4 Posts

Last post by Sabotage Restorer
Tue Oct 16, 2007 9:11 am
Suggested Background Materials on Universal Health Care for Aug. 2d

14 Topics

28 Posts

Last post by Sabotage Restorer
Sun Sep 30, 2007 2:28 am

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