The People

Hi Humans,
Have you noticed that the minority party always claims to represent "the people." In the late 60s and early 70s, the Left mantra was "power to the people" claiming that they represented "the people" when the majority of the people actuall elected someone else. Now the Tea Party wackos and other screwballs in the radical Right are under the delusion that they represent "the people." Remember, we live in a democratic republic in which the president is elected by the majority of the people (the real people). Those are the people who overwhelmingly elected President Obama. Those are the American people who elected an intelligent thoughtful pragmatic president over a "shoot from the hip" before thinking candidate who was accompanied by a "Joe Six Pack Hockey Mom" preceded by an inept Republican administration who fought the war on terrorism on the wrong battlefield without sufficient preparation, without a clear mission, who allowed us to fall into our present financial crisis, and who claim fiscal responsibility after squandering away the public's treasury by borrowing instead of pay as you go taxation.
But then again, what do I know. I'm just a dog.
Chloe

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