"American Foreign Policy and You" (Lee Hamilton, March 2006)

I just found some random notes from 2 years ago, from a talk given by Lee Hamilton. In unabridged, unedited form:

"American Foreign Policy and You"
* notes - a lot of white/balk heads in the audience
- more and more, must see problems in the context of the world we live in
- regime-change; interesting selection of regimes to change, ignore, deal with
- dependent on a very unstable region of the world

Choices (?) Made
- no energy independence
- ignore climate change (Kyoto)
- abandon Afghanistan in 1990s
- not to worry about debt, import/export balance

---- "don't ever let a politician tell you there are no alternatives in American foreign policy"

e.g.'s
Darfur - rape, killings, genocide
Congo - 4m dead

spend now, children can pay.
JFK - there cannot be an American solution for everything.

"What kind of a world do you/I/we choose for our children??"

"Must convey [to those 1.3b Muslims] we want the same things for you as we want for ourselves"
'I want for you what I want for myself' ---- a decent life [for you, me - and our children]

Facebook Stalkin'

Government and Political Parties.

Traditionally, conservatives are seen as distrustful of the government, as wanting less government, more personal autonomy. Yes? And liberals, well, the opposite.

In Indiana, similar to many other states, a law has been passed requiring a photo idea to vote. It has been controversial and is about to receive a ruling from the US Supreme Court.

Reflexively, liberals have lined up in opposition and conservatives in support of this law, and others like it. Why? The parties are shifting? It's the same thing with surveillance, no? Shouldn't it be the Republicans who are fighting tooth and nail (ahem, not to suggest that the Democrats are doing that) to keep (big) government from becoming big brother?

Or maybe it has nothing to do with principles, and it is political. IF a political party is to benefit from the VOTER ID Act, it is the Republicans, because those who are most likely to not vote are often Democrats. So, you have Democrats fighting tooth and nail all the way to the Supreme Court over it. On the other hand, increased surveillance is part and parcel of the patriotic and Republican defense of our country - national security national security national security - which was a source of political strength for the Republicans and prompted a scattered knee-jerk reaction from Democrats. Perhaps?

An Article - 'Murder City' - WSJ, 12/8

"In 1960, 25% of black residents were born to single mothers. By 1980, that number had climbed to 48%. Today, over 80% of Detroit's black children are born to single-parent households."

In other news, our government is on its way to 'bail out' a flailing mortgage industry's subprime arm. However, some observers note that the bail-out includes so many restrictions that most borrowers will be excluded. Who exactly is being bailed out here?

1. People making bad decisions about how much credit they can handle.
2. Less financially-aware people who were allowed to make bad decisions about how much credit they could handle.
3. Businesses with a profit motive encouraging people to make bad decisions about how much credit they can handle.