I went to visit my parents for a couple days. On the last day, my dad was feeling sick, and so he laid down in bed. It was kind of funny he piled all the pillows all around him and he had so many he was sitting down instead of laying down.
Then somehow I got the idea that if I played a certain song on the piano, it would give him energy. Then I thought, "nah, I'll just be quiet and let him sleep." But I couldn't shake the idea, so I did. And sure enough, I didn't get through half the song before he had jumped up full of energy and was doing things. Which was great.
So if you get the idea that you should do something good for someone, do it. Don't worry about your doubts.
Read an interesting study that shows most Americans don't want to pay for other people to have healthcare, but they are willing to pay extra to help people out who have chronic conditions. So basically we are willing to help people out who are in trouble, but for the rest of us, GET A JOB! I think that's what the American public is saying.
This guy was a political advisor to Bill Clinton. Some things he says I agree should happen, some things I think shouldn't happen. In any case the political system he outlines is what a lot of people think the government should do with healthcare.
“THE fundamental reasons why the electric car has not attained the popularity it deserves are (1) The failure of the manufacturers to properly educate the general public regarding the wonderful utility of the electric; (2) The failure of [power companies] to make it easy to own and operate the electric by an adequate distribution of charging and boosting stations. The early electrics of limited speed, range and utility produced popular impressions which still exist.”
Guess when that quote was made? Originally in 1916. Here is the link. I guess some things change, and some things don't.
I guess from the US perspective there are basically four important points with the Iranian situation:
1) It would probably be kind of bad for the US if Iran got nuclear weapons, and really bad for the middle east, including Iran. At very least, if they continue to attempt the acquisition, Israel is likely to initiate military action.
2) It would clearly be in the best interest of Iran, (and Russia and China and Israel and anyone else remotely involved), if Iran instead of building weapons worked on integrating themselves into the global economy/community. Fighting is detrimental to a country's well-being. It is in the best interest of the US to help them do so, although Iran might not see it this way.
3) Therefore all diplomacy should be aimed at helping Iran realize that they can integrate themselves into the world community, that it is in their best interest to do so, and we should help them do so, as much as we can.
I really think if we had employed a similar strategy with Iraq, we wouldn't have needed to invade, and Iraq could have been well on their way to democracy even with Saddam still in power. Too bad we didn't try.
