Beastly Bombers at the Moscow Subway (Зверский Бомбардировщики в Московском метро)

Hi Humans,
The Moscow subway suicide bombings have been big in the News the last few days. Can you believe the gulliblity of some humans, to blow themselves up into nothingness just for the privilege of killing other people. A dog would never do something so stupid. And what about their handlers, the cruel and cowardly humans who use them like cannon fodder. And this is in the name of religion? Religion should be a means of dealing with the inevitable tragedy of life, not a tool to hasten that tragedy for the innocent. Medvedev, the leader of Russia, called the suicide bombers and their handlers "beasts". I'm sorry to contradict you, Mr. Medvedev, but it's an insult to us beasts to be categorized with those creatures.
(Incidentally I have included a Russian tranlation using the Google translating tool)
Chloe

Привет Люди,
Москва взрывов метро самоубийства были большие в новостях последних дней. Можете ли вы поверить gulliblity некоторых людей, чтобы взорвать себя в небытие только за право убивать других людей. Собака никогда не будет делать что-то настолько глуп. А как насчет их проводников, жестокие и трусливые люди, которые используют их как пушечное мясо. И это во имя религии? Религия должна быть средством борьбы с неизбежной трагедии жизни, а не инструмент, чтобы ускорить эту трагедию для невинных людей. Медведев, лидер России, называют террористов-смертников и их проводников "звери". Очень жаль, противоречит, г-н Медведев, но это оскорбление для нас зверей быть классифицированы с теми существами.
(Кстати, я включил русский переводов и использования Google перевод инструмент)
Хлоя

Congratulations President Obama

Hi President Obama,
Congratulations on passing the Health Bill. It is a step forward for you American Humans. You have the most technologically advanced and best educated health care system in the world, but you have 2 problems. All this great medical stuff is becoming progressively more expensive and the distribution of medicine doesn't reach all the human people for various reasons. So Mr. President, your challenge is to make it work in a way that improves the distribution of medical care, keeps down costs, and doesn't do too much damage to what America already has.
I have 3 suggestions that might help in keeping down medical costs:
1. Make advertising of prescription drugs illegal (and anything else that will limit drug costs).
2. Tort reform
3. Limit the amount of money that can be distributed from health insurance companies to investors. The most effective HMOs in the USA are the non-profits because they can plow the money above costs back into the company to lower premiums and give more effective care.
Anyway that's what this little dog thinks. Good luck in implementing what the Congress has legislated. I know that if anyone can do it right, you can.
Chloe

A Letter to the Governor

Dear Governor Schwarzenegger,

I know I'm just a dog and as such I can't vote, but I do live in your State of California. So if I might be so presumptuous, I must critique your performance as my human governor. Your predescessor was unceremoniously kicked out of office in a recall election spearheaded by your Republican party because they accused him of causing financial problems for California. I know that you were not responsible for the recall of Governor Davis, but you were elected to fix the problems. They said we need a "business man" to do the job, a fiscally responsible Republican. So, why are we now in a worse financial mess than ever? Now the national financial crisis doesn't get you off the hook. First of all it was created by your Republican National Party and it's delusion that unregulated markets will take care of themselves, not to mention the wild spending of the Bush administration backed by borrowing money instead of conservative pay as you go with taxes. California is supposed to be a leader in this country, not a follower. But that's too much to hope for when we have a "Girlie Man" governor who won't stand up to his rich cronies, but instead expects the most vulnerable people in the state to carry the burden of recovery. You look for conservation by taking money away from the educational system which will have a crippling effect on California's future economy. You want to lower the gasoline tax when you should be raising it. Do you want us to be always controlled by the oil industry and the oil producing countries? If you had the balls to raise the gas tax, California could once again lead the nation in the right direction.
Now I don't propose that you be recalled. It was mean spirited to do that to Governor Davis, and we should not do it to you either. After all, you do seem to be a nice person, even though you are somewhat misguided in financial affairs. Arnold, just grow up and lead us in the right direction.
But what do I know. I'm only a dog.
Chloe

The Art of Smell

Hi Humans,
Here is my latest poem:
.
The beauty of smell,
We dogs know it well.
You can take your Van Gogh
To a dog it's so so,
But for poetry or prose,
To us it's the nose.
.
Chloe

Jerusalem

Hi Humans,
I am disturbed by the recent difficulties between the US government and the Israeli government over the announcement by Israel that it is authorizing the building of new housing units in East Jerusalem. I love America, Israel, and President Obama. For me it’s like an argument within my family and friends. On the one hand, the timing of the announcement during Vice President Biden’s visit was stupid. One can disagree with a friend, but that’s no reason to blazingly embarrass the friend. On the other hand, there is logic to Israel building housing in East Jerusalem. Israelis do not view Jerusalem in the same way as the West Bank. The Israeli mantra since 1967 has been that Jerusalem should remain undivided. Israel already demonstrated a willingness to dismantle the West Bank and Gaza Strip settlements and cede the land to a new State of Palestine a decade ago in the Clinton/Barak Plan which Ehud Barak offered to Yasser Arafat and was rejected by Arafat. Barak also offered Arafat some kind of limited presence in Jerusalem, but that is as far as the negotiations went because Arafat rejected the offer, did not proceed with further negotiation, and instead started the Intifada. So that is where the negotiations left off. To stop building in East Jerusalem would be to concede something over which the Israeli people feel strongly before even beginning negotiations.
Religious zealots and ultra-nationalists in Israel exist, but as a minority (percentage-wise smaller and less radical than on the Palestinian Arab side). The majority of the Israeli people are secularists who would like to simply get on with their lives without being subject to suicide bombers and incoming rockets, and without putting their children in harms way in the military. There are 2 reasons why Netanyahu, who is know as a hard liner, is prime minister of Israel. The lesser reason is that Israel’s parliamentary system of government allows minority parties ( including the most right wing) to hold the balance of power in elections. The greater reason is that every effort to make peace by more liberal governments has been rejected by the Arabs resulting in disaster, for example the Clinton/Barak plan and the more recent unilateral withdrawal from the Gaza strip. The Hezbollah rocket invasion of northern Israel also occurred during a liberal administration. The most effective peace keeper has been the wall that separates Israel from Palestine (although one might question on which side the West Bank settlements should be located).
So, why should the Israeli people feel confident that a Palestinian Arab peninsula jutting into their capitol city would not be used as a staging ground for another Intifada? I think the majority of Israelis might have agreed to the idea in the name of peace a decade or so ago when the confidence level between both peoples was at an all time high. But the events since then have made the Israeli people wary of any concession that is not made after tough negotiations, backed up by tangible safety concessions by the other side, and after a long period of normalcy has occurred.
Whichever country ultimately has sovereignty over the Arab neighborhood in East Jerusalem, the people living there should become citizens of the country in which they live. Perhaps the Palestinian capitol might some day be located in East Jerusalem, contiguous or not. But a real peace must come first.
Anyway, that’s what this dog thinks.
Chloe

Darwin and Little Dogs

Hi Humans,
Darwin talked about "survival of the fittest." So who is the fittest? It's not always the biggest or the physically strongest. Nowadays in urban America, there are many little dogs (like me). So why are we the fittest now? For one thing, we are cute. Our small size makes us easier to care for. We live in a time when technology has created alarm systems that make big guard dogs less necessary for many humans who might have needed them in an earlier time. Also, intelligence nowadays counts more than brute strength, and we poodles are known for our intelligence.
Chloe

Thoughts About Education

Hi Humans,
I understand that there has been much discussion among American humans concerning the problems of providing a good education for all of you. Of course as a dog I do not have the privilege of receiving the kind of formal education that is available to you humans, but I do have some thoughts on the matter.
First of all, you are too hung up on test scores. I realize there are limited ways of determining results, but when decisions on where the money is going and who gets to keep what job are determined completely on test scores, the result is a chain of pressure coming down from the highest levels of government down the hierarchy ending on the individual teachers to get better test scores, no matter what. The result is at best teaching to the test, and at worst fudging scores, not to mention making the teacher's work environment so unpleasant that the best teachers might be driven out to better paying and more appreciated occupations. Also, it results in more testing which takes time away from teaching. Actually it isn't tests that are the problem (as long as they are not given too frequently). Tests are necessary for helping to determine what is needed for the individual student. The problem is when tests become political, punitive (not just to the student), and financial. Another parameter other than test scores for judging schools might be progress in decreasing drop outs.
Second, although the schools should do as much as they can to offer every student an equal opportunity for education, that is not always completely possible. Much of what happens scholastically to the student is out of the hands of the school and teacher. Students arrive in school with different backgrounds in early child development and language experience. Pre-schools should be available to students who can't afford private early education. Students who grow up speaking a language other than English, should start their education with crash English courses for however long it takes before starting regular classes.
Finally, no matter what you want for the students, their goals will vary. Although all should be given the opportunity to progress as far as the individual student desires or is able, the results will not be equal for all. Some students have goals or abilities that do not include college no matter what you plan for them. Those goals and abilities might be inherent in the individual or environmental. Fair or not, some students will not go to college. There should be an emphasis on technical schools for those students to teach them the highest occupational skills which they can or want to achieve. That would results in less drop outs, a more skilled labor force, and a happier more productive community than a system which forces out less academically oriented students in the name of equality.
Anyway, that's what I think. But what do I know. I'm just a dog.
Chloe

Correction on Health Care Reform

Hi Humans,
Correction. I thought the Health Reform bill did not address Tort Reform. Apparently it does address the issue. So the President is taking the Republican ideas that make sense and using them (although Tort Reform is not strictly a Republican idea, they just like to pretend it is). So, whether or not it convinces any Republicans in Congress to make reasonable compromises (which is how a republic works), it will serve the American people, Democrats, Republicans, and Independents.
So maybe you humans can get it together after all, sometimes.
Chloe

Gun Show

Hi Humans,
I saw something really scary today. I saw a car parked at the curb with a big sign on top advertising "GUN SHOW." Now isn't that really spooky!!! What kind of creatures are you humans? Next time do I expect to see a sign advertising "BOMB SHOW"? or "POISON SHOW"?or "MURDERERS CONVENTION?" or "TERRORISTS GATHERING"? And you humans are supposed to be so civilized? And you look down on us dogs?
Why did God give you all those brains? And let you squander them? He should have given them to us dogs. We would have made a better world. But there must be a reason. After all, what do I know? I'm just a dog.
Chloe

More on Health Care Reform

Hi Humans,
A human commentator (actually they are all humans because they won't hire any dogs) on television recently made a good point about the president's health care reform. He said that the Democrats and Republicans in Congress are so far apart philosophically that they will never come together on a compromise. So the Democrats will have to use their majority to ram a plan through Congress without Republican congressional support, but that should not free the Democrats to do whatever they want because the president will need more than Congress to make the plan work. To make it work, he will need as much support from the American people as possible. That includes Republicans and Independants in the general public.
I think the most striking example is Tort Reform. It apparently is not included in the present bill. The president had used it as a bargaining chip in trying to get the Republicans in Congress on board, but the Republicans did not buy it. They were also just using it as a pawn. But Tort Reform should not be just a pawn in the game. It is a real cost cutting tool. Medicine that is practiced with one eye on the potential malpractice attorney is more costly and less effective. Also, the physicians are key players in making the reform work. So, why do you want to exclude and antagonize them?
Well at least the bill is doing something to move toward containing costs and making health care available to all humans. As I said in a previous blog, don't expect perfection because you won't get it.
Chloe