Everyday Citizen http://www.everydaycitizen.com/ en Copyright 2010 Sat, 13 Mar 2010 11:52:19 -0600 http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/ http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss The Rise and Fall of the Progressive Republican A few weeks ago President Obama had a health care reform conference with Democrats and Republicans to try to reach a bipartisan consensus on a health care reform bill. From what I read and what I watched on youtube, some interesting debates occurred between the participants, but no real consensus was formed. I personally think that a lack of consensus was reached because the idealogical gap between conservative Republicans and moderate and liberal Democrats is just too great for there to be much compromise. The Republicans in Congress right now have too strong a belief in the ability of the markets to resolve major national issues to jibe with the Democrats belief in the government's role in curbing the worst excesses of a market economy. I strongly support the efforts of President Obama and the Democrats to pass the health care reform bill, and support their tactic of using the legislative maneuver of reconciliation to achieve it. Though partisan politics have always been a part of the United States history, why have so few Republicans crossed party lines to work with Democrats in an important national issue? To find the solution, I think one needs to look at the history of the Republican Party and the rise and fall of the Progressive Republican within its ranks.]]> http://www.everydaycitizen.com/2010/03/the_rise_and_fall_of_the_progr.html http://www.everydaycitizen.com/2010/03/the_rise_and_fall_of_the_progr.html Abraham Lincoln Barack Obama Health Care Reform Progressive Republicans Radical Republicans Robert La Follette Rockefeller Republicans Teddy Roosevelt Sat, 13 Mar 2010 11:52:19 -0600 Meeting Ms. Martin http://www.everydaycitizen.com/2010/03/meeting_ms_martin.html http://www.everydaycitizen.com/2010/03/meeting_ms_martin.html Dallas Education Texas Sat, 13 Mar 2010 10:06:17 -0600 District of Columbia has the World's First Female Football Coach Natalie Randolph, former wide receiver for the D.C. Divas women's pro football team, has been named the head football coach at Calvin Coolidge Senior High School. She is the only woman to hold that job in the entire United States."
"I hate shaking hands," she said at the time, "because they walk right past me and don't realize I'm a coach."
Wow, this is incredible! I attended a WNBA game and was amazed at not only the talent but excitement! I was highly disappointed with the attendance. I feel Men's sports are idolized, while women are seen as "inexperienced" or "inadequate" to perform the same as the boys, it's really sad and shows ignorance.
Lawrence Wilson, Randolph's attorney, says he "would expect some type of hesitancy about having a female coach, but I haven't seen it."
]]> http://www.everydaycitizen.com/2010/03/district_of_columbia_has_the_w.html http://www.everydaycitizen.com/2010/03/district_of_columbia_has_the_w.html Equality & Discrimination Sports & Games Discrimination Equality Sports Washington D.C. Women's Rights Fri, 12 Mar 2010 10:56:47 -0600 Words I received email discussing: Words have meanings and politicians who want to control your life know that. The text of the message addressed the fact that the switch from using “global warming” to “climate change” was not a coincidence. Well, Duh! Words were invented because sign language was rather limiting in carrying on a conversation.The switch from using “global warming” to “climate change” was not a coincidence. Whether you call it ‘global warming’, ‘climate change’, ‘environmental activism’, ’smog’, or whatever else you think of is not the issue that needs to be addressed? http://www.everydaycitizen.com/2010/03/words.html http://www.everydaycitizen.com/2010/03/words.html Environment & Conservation Science & Math Climate Change Global Warming Science Wed, 10 Mar 2010 14:42:08 -0600 Bishops Are Running the Health Care Reform Show Jan. 26, 2010, letter to Congress, “Disappointingly, the Senate-passed bill in particular does not meet our moral criteria on life and conscience.” ]]> http://www.everydaycitizen.com/2010/03/bishops_are_running_the_health.html http://www.everydaycitizen.com/2010/03/bishops_are_running_the_health.html Faith & Religion Health Care & Medicine Law & Public Policy Abortion Church Health Care Reform Public Policy Religion Reproductive Rights Women's Rights Wed, 10 Mar 2010 14:24:42 -0600 Making Hamburger of Denier Bull "Spurred by a warming climate, daily record high temperatures occurred twice as often as record lows over the last decade across the continental United States, new research shows. The ratio of record highs to lows is likely to increase dramatically in coming decades if emissions of greenhouse gases continue to climb." -- National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder CO. Nov. 12, 2009 ]]> http://www.everydaycitizen.com/2010/03/making_hamburger_of_denier_bul.html http://www.everydaycitizen.com/2010/03/making_hamburger_of_denier_bul.html Environment & Conservation Science & Math Climate Change Global Warming Science Wed, 10 Mar 2010 10:15:19 -0600 Engaged parents My to-do list never seems to end. Sometimes I have to realize my workload will never go away no matter how hard I try and recognize visiting the programs are sometimes the best thing I can do. At lunchtime, I decided to check out our LOL (Ladies Oxygen Luncheon) led by Dr. Rhonda, a pediatrician in our clinic. LOL is an opportunity for current, future, and seasoned parents to come together and talk about different parenting and relationship issues. The number and variety of women at the luncheon were impressive--a young mother, pregnant with her 3rd...a couple of mother/daughter pairs...grandparents. Some parents came on their lunch breaks. I was encouraged by the attendance. Our CEO once told me, "people vote with their feet." It seems to me the parents in our community are voting.]]> http://www.everydaycitizen.com/2010/03/engaged_parents.html http://www.everydaycitizen.com/2010/03/engaged_parents.html Education & Learning Dallas Education Parenting Texas Wed, 10 Mar 2010 00:08:22 -0600 Fallen Fly Girl Finally Honored: Congressional Gold Medal Those of you who have followed the stories I've written here (such as this one) regarding Mabel Rawlinson may remember that finally last summer President Obama signed a bill authorizing the U.S. Congress to award her with a Congressional Gold Medal. In World War II, over 1,100 women, called the Women's Airforce Service Pilots (WASP), were trained to fly for the Air Force. All 1,100 of the WASP will be honorees at the ceremony this week in Washington DC. Of course, Mabel won't be there. I will go in her place. Mabel died in 1943 in the cockpit of her Air Force bomber. Only 38 of these brave women died in service to the country. My mother's sister, Mabel Rawlinson, was one of those 38 fallen heroes. Wednesday morning, my heart will be heavy as I enter the United States Capitol building.]]> http://www.everydaycitizen.com/2010/03/fallen_fly_girl_finally_honore.html http://www.everydaycitizen.com/2010/03/fallen_fly_girl_finally_honore.html Citizenship & Patriotism Equality & Discrimination Government: Federal Military & Veterans Barack Obama Congress Equality Family Values Feminism Military Veterans War Women's Rights Mon, 08 Mar 2010 23:07:44 -0600 Split This Rock: Washington DC Festival of Poetry, Activism There are poems and there are POEMS. The kind you learned in elementary school and remain with you, for good or bad, defining, for many, a genre that should be avoided at all costs. Or the kind that hit you straight in the gut and remind you, if you are lucky enough to have gotten this far, just how powerful words can be. For those of you who are in the latter group – clinging to those gut-wrenching, mind-bending poems you just can’t get out of your mind – Split This Rock Poetry Festival, to be held right here in DC, you’ll want to put on your literary calendar. Billed as a celebration of “poetry’s power as an agent of change,” Split This Rock brings together poets, artists and social activists from across the country – indeed, from across the globe – in a gathering whose goal is to pull the rigid chains of the political establishment. And what better place to do this than at the gravitational center of world power. ]]> http://www.everydaycitizen.com/2010/03/split_this_rock_a_washingotn_d.html http://www.everydaycitizen.com/2010/03/split_this_rock_a_washingotn_d.html Grassroots Activism Poetry & Literature Arts Grassroots Organizing Peace Poetry Politics Social Justice Washington D.C. Sun, 07 Mar 2010 08:26:11 -0600 Republican Donors Dissed By Their Own Party Last week an internal Republican National Committee document was leaked that was put together by the finance director. In the document low dollar donors are said to be reactionary and motivated by fear. High dollar donors are said to be motivated by their egos... http://www.everydaycitizen.com/2010/03/republican_donors_dissed_by_th.html http://www.everydaycitizen.com/2010/03/republican_donors_dissed_by_th.html Politics & Parties Politics Republican Party Sun, 07 Mar 2010 03:35:31 -0600 Consistency: Not So Much Overrated as Misunderstood When outgoing Republican Senator, Jim Bunning (KY), blocked unanimous consent for an extension of unemployment benefits and highway funds last week, the only explanation he would give is that the bill was not paid for. Democrats, and even many Republicans, were quick to charge him with inconsistency. In the past Bunning voted for the Bush tax cuts, the Iraq war, and many other things that were not paid for. Recently, he even voted against running Congress on a pay-as-you-go basis. So his recent stand against helping victims of the economic crisis, because it is not paid for, seems inconsistent. I'll grant that his recent stand is silly, and immoral; but maybe it is not inconsistent. Maybe his guiding principle is that Congress should insist on pay-as-you-go only when there is a chance that they might help poor people more than rich people. Or maybe he thinks that Congress should insist on pay-as-you-go only when there is a chance that they might make Democrats look good. Or maybe, as John McCain and some of Bunning's other supporters suggest, his recent stand is not necessarily bad just because it is inconsistent. Maybe he changed his mind about pay-as-you-go, recently. Despite what pundits say, changing your mind is not necessarily a bad thing: we couldn't mentally grow beyond two or three years old if we couldn't change our minds. http://www.everydaycitizen.com/2010/03/consistency_not_so_much_overra.html http://www.everydaycitizen.com/2010/03/consistency_not_so_much_overra.html Economy & Business Government: Federal Law & Public Policy Politics & Parties Working & Wages Economy Federal Budget Public Policy Republican Party Senate Unemployment Wages Sat, 06 Mar 2010 05:10:12 -0600 The Coalition For Clean and Safe Ports In the Long Beach area, a grassroots and coalition campaign is taking place to clean up the air pollution and poverty in the local seaports. The air around the seaports is dirty because port truck drivers earn too little to buy trucks that would belch out fewer diesel particulates, tiny particles that contribute to cancer and asthma. The Teamsters union, environmental groups, and local residents have teamed up to form a group called the Coalition for a Clean and Safe Ports to persuade the Port of Los Angeles to adopt a far-reaching plan that bars old trucks from hauling cargo from the port and to find a way to buy new vehicles. A study found that drivers earn around $9.50 an hour, ninety five percent do not have retirement benefits, and only ten percent have health insurance. Truckers work over 11 hours a day on average, and many work 14 hours or more. Most of these truck drivers live in the neighborhoods surrounding the seaports, and they and their families are deeply affected by the dirty air from the trucks.]]> http://www.everydaycitizen.com/2010/03/the_coalition_for_clean_and_sa.html http://www.everydaycitizen.com/2010/03/the_coalition_for_clean_and_sa.html Civil Rights & Justice Health Care & Medicine Working & Wages California Common Good Environment Health Public Policy Unions Workers Rights Fri, 05 Mar 2010 21:54:03 -0600 Women in Middle East Win More Rights; Obstacles Still Remain! According to The Star, "Women in the Middle East have broken down some educational barriers, secured a bigger economic role and won other rights in the past five years but still suffer great inequalities, a study showed."
Fifteen of 18 countries in the poll recorded gains in women's rights in the period, notably in Kuwait, Algeria and Jordan, United States-based group Freedom House said.
Wow!]]> http://www.everydaycitizen.com/2010/03/women_in_the_middleeast_win_mo.html http://www.everydaycitizen.com/2010/03/women_in_the_middleeast_win_mo.html International & World Equality Middle East Women Women's Rights Thu, 04 Mar 2010 14:43:57 -0600 Small Newspapers, Newsletters, and Alternative Papers Tri-City Voice, a wonderful smaller newspaper that reports news in the Milpitas, Newark, Union City, Fremont, and Sunol areas of the Bay Area in California. Under the radar of the two major papers in the Bay Area, the San Francisco Chronicle and the San Jose Mercury News, smaller papers like the Mountain View Voice, the Palo Alto Weekly, the Sunnyvale Sun, and the Los Altos Town Crier are popular in their particular cities and give important information about their neighborhoods and local politics.]]> http://www.everydaycitizen.com/2010/03/small_newspapers_newsletters_a.html http://www.everydaycitizen.com/2010/03/small_newspapers_newsletters_a.html Media & Journalism Newspapers Press Thu, 04 Mar 2010 14:22:18 -0600 Which Inequalities Will Society Tolerate? Here are the final collection of quotes from The Healing of America: A Global Quest for Better, Cheaper, and Fairer Health Care:
Which inequalities will society tolerate? Is it acceptable that some people are left to die because they can’t see a doctor when they get sick? That question encompasses a more basic question: Is health care a human right?... Is medicine a commodity to be bought and sold, a product like a car, a computer, a camera?... The creation of a national health care system involves political, economic, and medical decisions, but the primary decision to be made is a moral one (p. 212). Twenty two thousand Americans (USA) die each year from treatable diseases (because they do not have health care) (p. 217). Does a wealthy country have an ethical obligation to provide access to health care for everybody? Do we want to live in a society that lets tens of thousands of our neighbors die each year, and hundreds of thousands face financial ruin, because they can’t afford medical care when they’re sick?... Every developed country except the United States has reached the same conclusion: Everybody should have access to medical care. Having made that decision, the other nations have organized health care systems to meet that fundamental moral goal. ... At the start of the twenty-first century, the world’s richest and most powerful nation does not have the world’s best health care system. But we could… We can heal America’s ailing health care system – and the world’s other industrialized democracies can show us how to do it (p. 239).
]]> http://www.everydaycitizen.com/2010/03/which_inequalities_will_societ.html http://www.everydaycitizen.com/2010/03/which_inequalities_will_societ.html Civil Rights & Justice Government: Federal Health Care & Medicine Law & Public Policy Common Good Government Health Care Health Care Reform Insurance Companies Public Policy Social Justice Wed, 03 Mar 2010 14:46:33 -0600