Do you think peace in the Middle East is possible?

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Middle East, Peace, postaday2011

I don’t know. The Middle East hasn’t been left alone on its own for centuries. Even before the crusades, there was inter tribal warring, the region was the trade route to the far east, which meant a lot of foreign traffic, targets for thievery, once oil was discovered the foreign powers, Europe and the United States came in and set up shop. Post World War two, the Great Powers at the time decided to give the Zionist movement their ancestral home back, the Nation State of Israel. This was 1948, I imagine that this imperialist action must have been the fuse that lit the surrounding Arab States to launch the 1948 Israeli-Arab war. Then came the 1956/57 war, then came the 1967 war where Israel not only beat the Arab States as previously done, but Israel was able to claim the Golan Heights from Syria, the Sinai Peninsula from Egypt and the Gaza Strip. As of today after a few more wars, 1973, I think 1981 and more violent incidents, the Sinai Peninsula has been returned to Egypt and the Golan Heights have been returned to Syria. All of Israel’s neighbors except for Iran and The group Hamas, have more or less recognized the State of Israel. The question that stands before us is whether the Israelis are willing to go back to the 1967 borders with the Palestinians, meaning the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. One impediment that severely hinders that from happening, is the increase of settlements within the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

My history on Middle East region is rusty but my belief has stayed the same over the years, the Palestinians need their own State. They need recognition from the world, they need self-determination. At one point in our history, during the Woodrow Wilson years, self-determination was a focal point in international diplomacy. It appears that within the region, the people have decided to reclaim their right to self-determination, so it stands to reason that the Palestinians would want their day in the sun. The youth of Israel have protested themselves over the lack of a strong domestic economic policy.Their precious resources have been focused on military and security. Their citizens have suffered the price of a hawkish policy. Hopefully, at the end of this week some movement will occur when the Palestinians ask for state recognition at the U.N. An agreement of peace and co-existence between Israel and the Palestinians would be so welcome after 62 years. Fingers crossed for peace.

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Scott Walker Touts Jobs Outside Wisconsin On Website For Unemployed State Residents

The last sentence states that if you live in Wisconsin but work out of state it still counts as being employed in Wisconsin. How does that make sense? The company that employs you doesn’t pay anything to Wisconsin, the state in which you physically work has a right to tax you and then you have to pay Wisconsin taxes also. For those of whom the idea of taxation is anathema, this is loony tunes. Walker is a republican­, but since he is not creating jobs in his own state, he is willing to direct people to out of state jobs, sneaking in jobs that he didn’t create through his policies as Governor and having people pay taxes in two states. I can say this because my husband has a business in MA but works half of the time in NY, and he pays NY state and local taxes and MA state and local taxes, you go to where the work is but it does cost you. So I would say to Governor, yeah thanks for the favor, can you speed up facilitati­ng job creation in Wisconsin? If his plan to lower corporate taxes and crush unions was so brilliant why is he steering workers out of state? Just asking.
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Republican Leaders Urge Federal Reserve To Resist New Stimulus

Why would the GOP be angry with the Fed’s proposed action to buy long term debt to keep or even decrease the low interest rates? Doesn’t everyone want the economy to get back on track? Isn’t the Fed supposed to be concerned with high unemployme­nt and do what it can to get to better employment levels? Chairman Bernanke is a republican and so you would think that the GOP leadership would understand his reasoning for introducin­g more measures at this time. Since the banks have still not gotten on board with lending to small businesses perhaps this added jolt into the treasury/b­ond markets will be sufficient to push them over the edge and engage in what they are supposed to do and that is lend, to small businesses and even new home owners.
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House Democrats Vow To Vote Against Stopgap Spending Bill

First of all I don’t believe that much needed disaster relief should be hung up because of off set spending cuts. Alongside the disaster relief, some funds to promote infrastruc­ture rebuilding will contribute jobs to the economy and create some much needed growth. Secondly, we are in the 21st century, we have no business cutting access to loans in alternativ­e energy programs for the automotive industry, especially given the new vehicle fuel emissions standards adopted by this administra­tion just recently. When are they going to realize that the way of the dinosaur fuel era is over and we have to embrace alternativ­es regarding energy? Stop cutting off our noses to spite our faces.
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Democrats Hit Back On ‘Class Warfare’ Claims, Call Out GOP For Cutting Aid To Women And Children

Forget about the right’s attempt to claim class warfare, it is small and petty. As Warren Buffett has stated, the real class warfare is going on within his class against the rest of us. We can see this with the increase in poverty levels amongst children and their families, the have not been this high in a very long time, certain communitie­s are considerin­g to make it legal to be able to live in your car, in NYC, I’ve a marked increase in the homeless on the streets and in the subways, reminded me of the late 70’s and early 80’s, the low cost motels are increasing­ly not vacant. This is happening everywhere and it is not drug addicts or alcoholics­, it is working class Americans who have lost their homes and jobs and benefits and have been set adrift by a class of politician­s who believe and vote for the privileged and engage in a Social Darwinisti­c mindset. If you are down and out, it’s your own fault, get over it. Yet if you are in the upper tier, we have to make everything as easy as possible for you, because if you feel that the economic parameters aren’t just right you get anxious and you won’t invest or hire. Ridiculous­. That is not capitalism or free market theory, that is plutocracy­.
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What’s your favorite day of the week and why?

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postaday2011, T.v

I have to review the t.v. viewing schedule for a moment. This is the new fall season and so I’m still not sure of the final outcome. My favorite day of the week usually coincides with the night my favorite show is on. I’m hoping that Bones, my favorite show for years, will be back on Thursdays because the season’s last words last spring was Bones telling Booth she was pregnant! It’s going to be a wonderful season, I love these two protagonists, Bones and Booth. They are the yin and yang for each other. My next favorite day is Wednesday because Modern Family is on and that sitcom is beyond great fun. They won a ton of Emmy’s and deservedly so. The chemistry between each one of the cast members is palpable.

Why do I love these shows so much? I see them as visual stories as opposed to books that would be printed in serial form. Since I have watched these shows since their inception, I feel as if the characters that I visit with every week are almost like friends, similar to the way you can feel about a beloved literary character.

Why does my t.v viewing impact which day I fancy more than the others? Well, aside from t.v what really differentiates one day from another? I get up, do my exercise, take the dogs for their exercise, I forgot to mention prior to that, the waking of the daughter and making her lunch, then the exercise and the dogs, making the coffee, give the dogs their biscuits and medicine and give the puppy dog his morning snack, my turn to eat, first checking all accounts, all correspondence and then spending hours reading and writing. There are of course, always a different doctor’s appointment each week, that breaks up the week, but hardly the favorite part of the week. The rest of the time is dog care, the house, the errands, cooking and everything else. Ask anyone in the world, the daily grind is just that the daily grind, so I enjoy my t.v. to break up the hum drum.

I’m not complaining, I do really like the stability of a routine. I find it comforting and it keeps me grounded. Good habits and routines work really well for me. I learned early on that using your imagination in books or on t.v, can bring you to other places for escape until you have the means and opportunity to go ahead and create your own adventure.