Age and Experience can Change One's Vision

[Fran]

Interesting thoughts.

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He is a card carrying Reagen republican, who was successful in real estate, medicine and the stock market.

He is well connected in Europe and even had a Cardinal in his family. So you see, the ability to change one's mind can be a gift! After the untimely death of his daughter, Denise, he took a different view of what is important in life.

Also , you do not have to agree with him in whole or part, but it sometimes is wise to read the thoughts of a thinking man who knows his time on this earth is now short and what to him is now important as his life on this earth is in the final chapter!

XXXX XXX XXXX

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New Orleans

A wake up call for he Nation

The New Orleans anarchy and tragedy indicates the level of destitution that often goes unnoticed in the "richest country on earth". It has been kept covered up by our capitalist system and it is more widespread that most of us think.

The money dictates the legislative process keeping it always tilted in their favor of the wealthy. This dominance has also been supported by their unholy alliance with the religious right fanatics that have voted for George W. Bush, a devout fanatic himself.

The poor have been disenfranchised by the disregard of the government to provide an aggressive approach to education. This president promptly produced the transformation of one of the largest surpluses into one of the largest deficits of this nation’s history by reducing taxes for the rich and driving us into an interminable and not winnable war in Iraq. The result at best will be another Islamic republic similar to the one in Iran.

The enormous capital expenditures of maintaining a large army around the world should and must be better deployed at home.

Instead we should redirect our effort and tax revenues to the following projects.

Consider what the USA could have done with all the trillions of dollars spent in foreign wars.

1- We could have embarked on a “Manhattan Project” and develop a new source of energy that would make us self-sufficient. It would get us out of the of the servitude role we have in our relationship with the Arabs.

2- The development of a dense network of public transportation in every major city could be operational now.

Connecting every major metropolis with bullet a high-speed train system would be operational.

[:"blue"] (There was no #3. It was either removed by some other than me, or it was a typo) [/]

4- We could have had already a massive public housing program at reasonable prices for the poor with incentives for ownership.

5- In the area of Education, providing a free college education for every citizen could have been a reality.

Establishing camps for primary education for children to provide more effective education of the masses. Revolutionizing the primary educational system and inspiring the formation of a better the nuclear family would form the grassroots that essential to liberate the poor from their present quagmire.

6- The formation of technology training centers for the workforce that must shifted from decaying industries could have been established already. We must rebuild our old infrastructure that has been neglected for many years and is in deplorable state. It needs massive reconstruction and redesign to come up to the level of other industrialized nations.

7- A comprehensive medical care system free to the public for prevention and treatment of disease should have been implemented.

8 – Providing ample funds to address the retirement needs of all citizens of this country.

9- Encouraging people to become nursing and teaching professionals raising the bar of proficiency in both professions.

10- Funding of a space program for planetary exploration and colonization of space.

11 – The construction of 50 nuclear power plants to provide electric power to the entire nation.

12 – Get out of the United Nations and sell the NYC building to the higher bidder.

13 – Stop all the foreign aid and spending in domestic aid

14 - We must learn from history and bring back the Monroe Doctrine. America for the Americans. To the contrary we will go the same path that other “empires” have. Rome, Spain, Holland, Brittan to mention just a few that proceeded in the same way we have been for the last 75 years.

With all this accomplishments we would not need to fight wars.

All the nations of the world would try to emulate our system.

To the contrary we continue to waste our tax money in trying to impose our values and system of government to all the countries of the world. They resent this attempt to “Americanize” the planet. It will never be successfully done because they have different and old cultures that are not easily altered.

This president has failed us. He remained in Crawford for 2 days after the hurricane before going to Washington to take care of the business "some" people in this country elected him to do.

Finally 5 days after the onset of the New Orleans disaster the wheels are in motion.

Because of this delay many people have died for lack of food, water, medications and by living in a filthy environment.

I have received news from Europe and other parts of the world expressing concern and wondering why are we addressing this tragedy like a third world country.

While we are having our taxes squandered in Iraq and Afghanistan where our soldiers are being killed we are neglecting our homeland.

In a country that boasts of its democratic principles and equality of opportunity we have accelerated the accumulation of poverty and the level of primary education here is the worse of all the industrialized nations. The greedy and some of the wealthy that control government are wearing a social blindfold that will fall one day by the weight of the public injustices. That will no be a pretty sight.

While people were dying in New Orleans Mr. Bush is telling them to "be patient".

While soldiers are dying in Iraq he is telling us to "stay the course".

We must reverse the reckless course of this nation.

J.A. Ribelles

September 3, 2005

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[Paul Beach]

Margaret Gray responds:

To whom is the first section of the above post referring?