News and views that might interest you

What is so great about America

When in England at a large conference, Colin Powell was asked

by the Archbishop of Canterbury if our plans for Iraq were just

an example of empire building' by George Bush.

He answered by saying, "Over the years, the United States has

sent many of its fine young men and women into great peril to

fight for freedom beyond our borders. The only amount of land

we have ever asked for in return is enough to bury those that

did not return."

It became very quiet in the room.

**************

Then there was a conference in France where a number of

international engineers were taking part, including French and

American. During a break one of the French engineers came back

into the room saying "Have you heard the latest dumb stunt Bush

has done? He has sent an aircraft carrier to Indonesia to help

the tsunami victims. What does he intended to do, bomb them?"

A Boeing engineer stood up and replied quietly: "Our carriers

have three hospitals on board that can treat several hundred

people; they are nuclear powered and can supply emergency

electrical power to shore facilities; they have three

cafeterias with the capacity to feed 3,000 people three meals a

day, they can produce several thousand gallons of fresh water

from sea water each day, and they carry half a dozen

helicopters for use in transporting victims and injured to and

from their flight deck.. We have eleven such ships; how many

does France have?"

Once again, dead silence.

*****************

A U.S. Navy Admiral was attending a naval conference that

included Admirals from the U.S., English, Canadian, Australian

and French Navies. At a cocktail reception, he found himself

standing with a large group of Officers that included personnel

from most of those countries. Everyone was chatting away in

English as they sipped their drinks but a French admiral

suddenly complained that, 'whereas Europeans learn many

languages, Americans learn only English.' He then asked, 'Why

is it that we always have to speak English in these conferences

rather than speaking French?'

Without hesitating, the American Admiral replied 'Maybe its

because the Brits, Canadians, Aussies and Americans arranged it

so you wouldn't have to speak German'

You could have heard a pin drop!

Show Support For Our Troops -Thank The Troops For Our Freedom

This is a special time to recognize the sacrifices of our troops and their families.  "Knowing the gratitude and support Americans feel helps them enormously, wherever they are," says Joyce Rumsfeld, wife of the Defense Secretary and official spokesman for America Supports You, sponsored by the Pentagon. 

What can you do?  "There are lot of ideas at www.americasupportsyou.mil that you can apply to your situation," says Mrs. Rumsfeld.  You can also visit www.nmam.org for more information.

What is an American

You probably missed it in the rush of the news last week, but there was actually a report that someone in Middle East had published in a newspaper a reward to anyone who killed an American, any American.

So an Australian-American dentist wrote the following to let everyone know what an American is, so they would know when they found one.

An American is English, or French, or Italian, Irish, German, Spanish, Polish, Russian or Greek.  An American may also be a Canadian, Mexican, African, Indian, Chinese, Japanese, Australian, Iranian, Asia, or Arab, or Pakistani, or Afghan.

An American may also be a Cherokee, Osage, Blackfoot, Navaho, Apache, or one of the many other tribes known as native Americans.

An American is Christian, or he/she could be Jewish, or Buddhist, or Muslim.

In fact, there are more Muslims in America than in Afghanistan.  The only difference is that in America they are free to worship as each of them chooses.

An American is also free to believe in no religion.  For that he/she will answer to God, not to the government, or to armed thugs claiming to speak for government or God.

An American is from the most prosperous land in history of the world.  The root of that prosperity can be found in the Declaration of Independence, which recognizes the God given right of each of man and woman to the pursuit of happiness.

An American is generous.  Americans have helped out just about every other nation in the world in their time of need.  When Afghanistan was overrun by the Soviet army 20 years ago, Americans came with arms and supplies to enable the people to win back their country.

When Iran was struck recently with devastating earthquake in Bam, Americans were there to help and still helping. 

Americans were the top donor when the earthquake struck Northern Pakistan recently

Americans are involved to solve the Middle East crisis.  Pretty soon, there will be a Palestinian State.  You will find them almost in every country helping people to improve the daily lives. 

Now,  Americans are presently building Afghanistan and Iraq again after the toppling of Talibans and Sadam Hussain.

Americans liberated France and Germany and many other European countries, gave them money to rebuild their countries.

Americans stood up to the Evil Empire, flew food over to West Berlin, reunited East and West Germanys, gave birth and freedom to many central Asian and Eastern European countries.

Americans landed on Moon and are getting ready to land on Mars.

As of  morning of September 11, 2001, Americans had given more than any other nation to the poor in Afghanistan.

Americans prevented a third world war from happening due to nuclear deterrence.

Americans welcome the best -  the best products, the best books, the best music, the best food, the best athletes. 

But, they also welcome the least. The national symbol of America, the Statue of Liberty, welcomes your tired and your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.  These in fact are the people who built America.

Some of them were working in the Twin Towers the morning of September 11, earning a better life for their families.  World Trade Center victims were from at least 30 other countries, cultures, and first languages, including those that aided and abetted the terrorists.

So you can try to kill an American if you must.

Hitler did, So did General Tojo, Stalin, Mao Tse-Tung, Al Qaeda, many religious fanatics, Slobodan Milosevic, Sadam Hussain and every bloodthirsty tyrant in the history of the world.

But, in doing so you would be just killing yourself.  Because Americans are not a particular people from a particular place.

They are the embodiment of the human spirit of freedom.

Everyone who holds to that spirit, everywhere, is an American.

We are Americans, holder of the youngest oldest democracy on earth, and we shall prevail.

Don't Return Incumbent Politicians (DRIP)

 U.S. Congress is out of control and won't reform itself. It is time to return to Citizen Legislators. The American people are at risk from forces of careerism now dominating American politics. To put it simply, professionalization of politics is incompatible with the essence of Representative Government.

Our elected officials have failed to take charge and solve the problems of this great nation. They spend more time fighting among themselves, raising money and getting elected than paying attention to the country's needs.

We have become a nation of special interests and democracy by minority. We are a nation of deficits, prisons, homeless, traffic gridlocks, bad water, dirty air, deterioration of educational standard, lack of quality child-care and loss of competitiveness in world economy.

This is the record of our elected leaders who are being returned to the Congress at the rate of 99 percent. Our Congress has become a permanent Congress and is no more representative. Permanent House of Representatives subject to change only as the result of death, retirement or malfeasance flies in the face of our democratic traditions. It is accepted that competition and injection of new blood is a necessary ingredient for the vitality of any enterprise. In spite of this record, they think they deserve more and continue to raise their salaries which I think is obscene and un-American.

I am the Flag

I am the Flag of nation born July 4, 1776: the declaration of Independence is my birth certificate. The Constitution and the Bill of Rights assured my future. From its birth, my nation pledged to cherish, defend and promote freedom; from fear and want, Freedom of the press, Freedom of religion, Freedom of speech and Freedom of movement of men, women and goods. I am many things to many people. I represent the nation called the United States of America.

Millions have lived and died for me. My heritage is at Lexington where the shot heard around the world was fired. Among others in my heritage are Washington, Jefferson, Abigail Adams, Patrick Henry, Ben Franklin, Betsy Ross, Grant, Lee, Clara Barton, and Abraham Lincoln; Fredrick Douglas, Sojourner Truth, Booker T. Washington and Mary McLeod Bethune. Once when my ideals were seriously challenged, a civil war resulted. After much valor and sacrifice, I survived and Freedom was preserved and extended. Gettysburg and Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address rest my goal.

Remember the Maine, Pearl Harbor, Iwo Jima and Ground Zero? Two times when freedom was in trouble in the world, I answered, and I am ready to answer again third time. I testify for freedom among the flags at the United Nations.

I was with my heroic dead in Flanders fields, on the rock of Corregidor, on the bleak slopes of Korea, in the steaming jungles of Vietnam, on the moon in 1971 when Astronaut James Irvin saluted me, and at Ground Zero on September 11, 2001 in New York.

I was there when they built the Brooklyn Bridge, dug the Panama Canal, cultivated the wheat lands of Kansas, plowed the corn fields of Iowa, and quarried the granite from the hills of Vermont. I am the coalfields of the Virginias and Pennsylvania, the fertile lands of the West, the Golden Gate and the Grand Canyon.

I sprawl from the Atlantic to the Pacific .... my arms reach out to embrace Alaska and Hawaii .... 3 million square miles and more than 3 million farms. I represent forest, field, mountain and desert. I am quiet villages - and cities that never sleep.

I am 150,000 schools and colleges, and 400,000 churches, synagogues, mosques, many different places of worships that exist side by side where my people may worship God as they think best. I am a ballot dropped in a box; the roar of a crowd in a stadium and the voice of a choir in a cathedral. I am an editorial in a newspaper and a letter to a Congressman, the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and the President.

I am the inventor, scientist, engineer, doctor, writer, artist, musician, teacher and countless number of other ordinary citizens who have loved and honored the principles which I represent.

I represent the Nation, and these are the things that I am. I was conceived  in Freedom and I will spend the rest of my days in Freedom with the support of the flags of each state and territory.

May we possess always the integrity, the courage and strength to keep ourselves unshackled, to remain a citadel of Freedom and a beacon of hope to the world.

By an Act of Congress, I fly constantly over our monument to Liberty, the Capitol - I will fly in perpetuity if we are worthy successors to those who fought and gave us Freedom.

Make a difference

Million help others. Million of lives are changed forever. Take a look at your self, look around your community and identify a cause that needs attention. Then decide to tackle it by yourself or with a group. We must pursue these goals relentlessly to make our country Prouder, Stronger and Better for us and our children every day.

Poverty in USA

It is a shame that we cannot eliminate poverty in the richest land on earth. Of the 200 consistently poorest counties in America, 195 are rural, according to a new study by Save the Children. The worst pockets of poverty are along our border with Mexico, on Indian reservations, in Appalachia, in the Mississippi River Delta and in California's Central Valley. Why does the poverty exists here? Isolated areas lack the money and trained personnel to support schools, libraries and health clinics, and many have no public transportation. Our legislators who raise billion of dollars in campaign cash through lobbyists, draw their full salaries with benefits and perks are absolutely clueless. Rather than paying attention and solving this nation's real problems, they attend to the concerns of their benefactors. I suggest that they should contribute their salaries to eliminate poverty from this land. One third of taxpayers' money is wasted in fraud and waste, I wish some of this money could be used to alleviate the poverty in this country.

Deregulation

It is a good concept and if done properly the consumers benefit from it. What happened in California that utilities sold their plants to outside power generators who are selling electricity back at enormous prices. I believe, with proper planning and controls, it could have been avoided. What Governor Davis and state legislature did is commendable and is a temporary measure. We should learn from this experience to become self-reliant and build more environmentally clean power plants.

I think that we should learn from Pennsylvania who have successfully implemented the deregulation program and brought the electricity rates to 15% down.

Internet Privacy

Silicon Valley is aware that the full potential of internet commerce cannot be realized until customers feel that their personal information is secure. There may be a couple of solutions - websites must post a privacy policy that explains how the information is being collected and what they do with it - users must have the right to ask companies not to share their personal information with others.

Immigration

No other nation has benefited from foreign aid to the extent of the United States through skills, resources and energies brought to this nation through immigration.

It seems worthwhile to recall their contributions to the nation's survival.

20 % of those who earned the Congressional Medal of Honor in our wars have been immigrants. Some 500,000 immigrant soldiers fought on the Union side, including 15 Hungarian-born colonels alone; a total of 67,000 immigrants died.

The infra-structure of this nation like the railroad system was built with Chinese labor.

Werner Von Braun and some 700 engineers brought from Germany after WWII contributed to what is NASA is today.

Close to 10 % of the enlisted Navy are foreign born, immigrants on active duty in all armed forces total some 70,000.

Southeast Asians CEO's lead 35 % of the high tech firms in the Silicon Valley today. There are more than 500 thousands doctors, engineers, CPA's, attorneys, professors, journalists, military personnel and other professionals of South Asian descent who continue to make our great nation stronger, prouder and better every day.

Someone asked Alfred Rascon, a Mexican who held only a green card when he earned his Medal of Honor, why he, a non-citizen, felt compelled to serve, and bravely in Vietnam. He replied. "I was always an American in my heart."

As a nation of immigrants and immigrants' children, we may sometimes take all this for granted.

The war stories you may not know

Most Americans don't know that one out of seven men in George Washington's army was black or that a black soldier stopped Benedict Arnold from handing over West Point to the British. That is part of our history according to Gail Buckley in writing the book American Patriots. She further writes that Presidents Carter and Reagan deserve the most credits for highly integrated military we have today. "It is all has to do with leadership," she says. "The military went from being the most racist public entity in America to the least racist".

What's right with America

We are diverse in our backgrounds and embrace cultural differences and yet we are united to make our country stronger, prouder and better. A constant stream of new ideas and opinions makes our lives the richest on the planet. We are passionate about our views, and that free flow of ideas adds vitality to our culture. For nearly any lifestyle we choose to embrace, there is an area of the USA that is perfect for us. We are proud of each of our special places in the country.

A rigid system of lifestyle conformity, the rule in many other places, does not limit us here. Nowhere else approaches the USA when it comes to the opportunity to make a living in a variety of circumstances. You can be whatever you want to be in America. I know people who have changed careers a half-dozen times.

Simplify the Tax Code

Tax complexity is undermining the tax system. According to three groups who know something about tax complexity: the American Bar Association tax section, the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants tax division, and Tax Executives Institute, a corporate-tax group, the need for simplification has become more pressing than ever. The income-tax system has now reached a critical juncture.

Taxpayers have lost not only the ability to understand and comply with the law without expending considerable resources, but also respect for a tax system that increasingly makes them victims of its unintended consequences and outdated or ill-conceived policies. This cannot help but reduce compliance, increase the cost and complexity of administering the tax system, and undermine the public's general confidence in government. Simplification is an economic, political and even moral imperative.

On this page, I will keep on expressing my views on issues that are of interest to us, please let me know what do you think?