Is Canada's Health Care System A Successful Model for the U.S.

How can the U.S. shove forward a part Socialist Health Care Plan while still holding together the network of private physicians and hospitals currently in use. They aren't going to be able to do it without nationalizing the whole system. As the U.S. health system starts to run short of qualified Primary Care physicians and the cost of any visit to any specialist is enormous, the current idea that we can consolidate all of our available health resources in to a package that is affordable for all is way beyond the point most Americans will go.

Granted, easily affordable anything is the inextricable desire of all people desiring material goods and immaterial needs. But, as is going on now in Canada, the privatizing of some clinics is offering the more affluent an opportunity to jump to the front of an otherwise long, long wait for alot of non essential services. Private health care is only allowed in some provinces and is only allowed when the wait to see a specialist will be too long.

Apparently, in Canada the anti-private health care league do not want to allow these clinics to open because of the already short supply of doctors and resources. These private clinics don't add to the health system, they take away. Well, what is going to happen in the U.S.A. when we go national health care.

Canada is showing a slight shift towards the American way of health services.

Don't forget the amount of taxes going into Government and taken away from the people. Upwards of 50% or more in payroll taxes can be excised for payment of all government sponsored programs. ... lakotahope
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Canada Sees Boom in Private Health Care Business

Facing long waits and substandard care, a growing number of Canadians are willing to pay for health treatment, leading to a booming private business in Canada -- a country often touted as a successful example of a universal health system.

Private for-profit clinics are a booming business in Canada -- a country often touted as a successful example of a universal health system.

Facing long waits and substandard care, private clinics are proving that Canadians are willing to pay for treatment.

"Any wait time was an enormous frustration for me and also pain. I just couldn't live my life the way I wanted to," says Canadian patient Christine Crossman, who was told she could wait up to a year for an MRI after injuring her hip during an exercise class. Warned she would have to wait for the scan, and then wait even longer for surgery, Crossman opted for a private clinic.

As the Obama administration prepares to launch its legislative effort to create a national health care system, many experts on both sides of the debate site Canada as a successful model.

But the Canadian system is not without its problems. Critics lament the shortage of doctors as patients flood the system, resulting in long waits for some treatment.

"No question, it was worth the money," said Crossman, who paid several hundred dollars and waited just a few days.

Health care delivery in Canada falls largely under provincial jurisdiction, complicating matters.

Private for-profit clinics are permitted in some provinces and not allowed in others. Under the Canada Health Act, privately run facilities cannot charge citizens for services covered by government insurance.

But a 2005 Supreme Court ruling in Quebec opened the door for patients facing unreasonable wait times to pay-out-of-pocket for private treatment.

"I think there is a fundamental shift in different parts of the country that's beginning to happen. I think people are beginning to realize that they should have a choice," says Luc Boulay, a partner at St. Joseph MRI, a private clinic in Quebec that charges around $700 for most scans.

Yet advocates looking to preserve fairness claim that private clinics undermine the very foundation of the country's healthcare system.

"Private clinics don't produce one new doctor, nurse, or specialist. All they do it take the existing ones out of the public system, make wait times longer for everybody else while people who can pay more and more and more money jump the queue for health care services," said Natalie Mehra, member of the Ontario Health Coalition.

Canada spends $3,600 per capita on health care -- almost half of what is spent in the U.S. And while some in Washington look to its northern neighbor for ideas, the Canadian system is still changing.

"One can understand that this is evolving and a mix of private and public seems to be favorable in some context. On the other hand, we need to be really careful that we're not treating health care the way we treat a value meal at McDonalds," Dr. Michael Orsini from the University of Ottawa told FOX News.

Provincial governments now face the difficult job of finding a balance in meeting the country's health care needs -- reducing wait times and maintaining fair access without redefining the universal ideals at the core of Canada's health care system. ....By Molly Line FOXNews.com

Executive Order On Long-Term Detention

I have a hard time distinguishing our basic tenet of justice for Americans, yet we show the world that we can and will imprison people indefinitely without trial. I don't like the fact that the Courts of the U.S are now considering the legality of keeping "pedophiles" locked up longer than their terms would dictate. Granted that these types of deviants have a very high recidivism rate. Hardly, can we as a nation, start locking up segments of society...going beyond normal courts, legislative laws and imprisoning citizens indefinitely. If you do your time, that should be when you are reintegrated into society.

Could be first step towards a New World Order where more lawbreakers are seized and interred without jurisprudence or any other means of showing ones innocence.... lakotahope

WHITE HOUSE WEIGHS OPTIONS

Mayur Pahilajani - AHN News Writer
Washington, D.C. (AHN) - The U.S. government is considering weighing its options for allowing the indefinite incarceration without trial of some terrorism suspects being held at the military facility in Cuba, the reports said Saturday.

The step by the Obama administration officials is being taken to avoid battling with Congress over proposition to close the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay.

The White House has not yet crafted an executive order that would authorize President Barack Obama to forgo the controversial legislation to imprison terrorist suspects without trial.

"Civil liberties groups have encouraged the administration, that if a prolonged detention system were to be sought, to do it through executive order," Washington Post quoted an official without naming the source.

The civil liberties groups have generally opposed long-term detention of suspects without being prosecuted.

Analysts claim that the executive order could be in line with the legal doctrine of former President George W. Bush, allowing authorities to imprison those he deemed threats to national security during wartime.

Some of the top diplomats in Washington, including Republican and Democratic lawmakers, have recommended the government to set up a "national security court" to oversee the detention of "dangerous prisoners" who cannot be charged or tried.

But the Obama administration has not decided to establish the special court.

http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7015624296#ixzz0Jh73tQ9Z&D

Joint Strike Fighter For Sale

Is Gates and the Obama White House just pushing this plane just to be able to sell it and make money for the economy? Are they doing this at the expense and limited production of the world's greatest fighter aircraft today, Generation 5, F22 Raptor.

The pentagon is advertising the F35 to fill three major roles for the Air Force, strike, bombing and all weather. The Marines want S/VTOL abilities that will replace their Harriers. And the Navy wants an aircraft that can withstand the punishing atmosphere of carrier life.

We are jointly producing this aircraft with other countries and maybe we are pushing this aircraft just to keep these countries on the team. We wouldn't want them to get cold feet and bail on the largest aircraft Deal in History--$200 Billion plus.

According to the Pentagon, this plane does everything except orbit the earth. The U.S. is using this aircraft as a platform to sell to everyone who wants it...It will displace the F22 Raptor,(expensive), but I wonder will it truly be ALL things for ALL Missions??? Nothing has worked this way before.... LAKOTAHOPE
DOES HAVE GREAT TOYS, 1 ITEM WORTH MENTIONING:
A distributed-aperture-infrared sensor system will provide full spherical infrared coverage around the aircraft. In addition to providing warnings of missile launches, information from the system can be displayed on the pilot’s helmet visor, permitting the pilot to see “through” the airplane’s structure in all directions, and eliminating the need for night-vision goggles. This system will dramatically increase the ability of the F-35 to conduct any type of mission at night.
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JSF F 35 --globalsecurity.org
"For much of the free world’s military forces, the F-35 represents the future- a new family of affordable, stealthy combat aircraft designed to meet the twenty-first-century requirements of the US Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps, as well as the United Kingdom’s Royal Air Force and Royal Navy. The program is truly international in its scope and participation: Italy, the Netherlands, Turkey, Canada, Denmark, Australia, and Norway recently joined the F-35’s system development and demonstration (SDD) phase. All SDD partners will be active in the F-35’s development process and stand to gain economically from the program.The program’s objective is to develop and deploy a technically superior and affordable fleet of aircraft that support the warfighter in performing a wide range of missions in a variety of theaters. The single-seat, single-engine aircraft is being designed to be self-sufficient or part of a multisystem and multiservice operation, and to rapidly transition between air-to-surface and air-to-air missions while still airborne. To achieve its mission, the JSF will incorporate low observable technologies, defensive avionics, advanced onboard and offboard sensor fusion, and internal and external weapons. Plans call for the F-35 to be the world's premier strike aircraft through 2040. It will provide air- to-air capability second only to the F-22 air superiority fighter. The plane will allow the Air Force forces to field an almost all-stealth fighter force by 2025. The Navy and Marine variants will be the first deployment of an "all-aspect" stealth airplane." ....globalsecurity.org

Building Collapses In New York

How in the Hell can a building collapse in the United States of America without warning? Thankfully, no one was killed and only four people being treated for various reasons due to this collapse. This is the type of thing that happens in Third World Countries! There is a video on the internet that shows a building collapsing onto another building across the street. At least people were aware of that calamity before it occurred.

The owner of the building in New York was due to be in front of the Environmental Safety Board for a citation issued for various cracks appearing on the outside walls. I wonder what the owner is going to say to the Board--I wonder what the Board is going to say???

Most of us have seen buildings in some areas of our cities that are old and in need of repair and we've seen some buildings with heavy I-beams bracing suspect walls. How did New York drop the ball on this? Also, there was a building that blew up recently in this city. What is happening to our infrastructure where our habitats are collapsing on top of us. ..... lakotahope

Russia Still In The Old Era

While reading Itar, Russian News, I noticed 2 headlines that caught me a little bit surprised. MEDVEDEV SAYS RUSSIAN SHOULDN'T DEPEND ON IMPORTS FOR MEDICINE and the other BELARUS, RUSSIA PARTIALLY RESOLVE "MILK PROBLEM".

For a major player in world politics and a major controller of over half of the nuclear weapons on this planet, I had forgotten that the Soviet Union collapsed due to economic woes. Their system of quasi-capitalism and socialism is still trying to develop and maintain a workable economy. Struggling with purchasing 'western technologies' for medicine and medical instruments' isn't helping the local economy in the long run. All imported items, from medicines and machines must be paid for and this cash is leaving the Russian system. They may have the worlds largest oil fields, but they are lacking in even the basics.

The agreement with Belarus over 'milk production and shipments' reminded me of the 1960s when I would see the farm bureau reports first thing in the morning before going off to school. Seeing anything about milk production agreements means there isn't that much production to be shared. I wonder how bad things can really be? There was a broadcast on national news about the older citizens going to special shops to purchase 'outdated food products'. The people interviewed were not altogether disappointed as these products were in fact cheaper and they had experienced this situation during the Cold War.

While Putin and Medevdev are ramping up their military arms and weapons again, they seem to be following the same agenda during the Cold War. Swords instead of plowshares... ...lakotahope

Iranians To Get A Partial Recount

Obviously, the turmoil enveloping Iran isn't going away any time soon. There will be a partial recount to appease the Mousavi voters and try to stroke the West at the same time. No one is talking as if this election wasn't a sham. Mousavi is telling his followers to be careful and not to say "bad things" that may give the government enforcers a reason to do harm to any and all protesters of this election.

Meanwhile, Ahmadinejad was in Russia and acting as if nothing untoward has happened in Iran. He dismisses his opponents speeches and the demonstrations of Mousavi's supporters as meaningless. Ahmadinejad, said ".....they are acting as if this were a game and their team lost."
Yeah, Too Bad!!

In an interview, President Obama mentions he has a wary eye on any outcome in Iran's elections. He is not giving Mousavi much more credit than Ahmedinejad. Iran will continue to pose a threat to other nations, but I have a feeling that all of the young voters will still be heard.....lakotahope
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Adelle Nazarian

AP--June 16: Iranian supporters of presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi stage a protest against presidential election results in Iran.

As Iran has been gripped by protest, violence and allegations of vote fraud in the wake of a contentious national election, people around the world are watching--but perhaps none more closely than the young Iranians who helped push voter turnout to record levels.

Some of those young Iranians, in interviews with FOXNews.com, spoke openly about their hopes and fears in the wake of the President Mamoud Ahmadinejad's contested victory over reformist challenger Mir Hossein Mousavi.

"My fellow (Iranian) classmates in Turkey were crying when they found out the news," said Amir Arman, who is a 33-year-old doctoral candidate studying social psychology in Turkey...foxnews

Hopes Are Dashed in Questionable Elections

Amir Hesami/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

By BILL KELLER

Published: June 13, 2009

TEHRAN — It is impossible to know for sure how much the ostensible re-election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad represents the preference of an essentially conservative Iranian public and how much, as opposition voters passionately believe, it is the imposed verdict of a fundamentally authoritarian regime.

But for those who dreamed of a gentler Iran, Saturday was a day of smoldering anger, crushed hopes and punctured illusions, from the streets of Tehran to the policy centers of Western capitals.

Iranians who hoped for a bit more freedom, a better managed economy and a less reviled image in the world wavered between protest and despair on Saturday.

On the streets around Fatemi Square, near the headquarters of the leading opposition candidate, Mir Hussein Moussavi, riot police officers dressed in RoboCop gear roared down the sidewalks on motorcycles to disperse and intimidate the clots of pedestrians who had gathered to share rumors and dismay.

“Another four years of dictatorship,” a voter muttered. “This is a coup d’état,” several others agreed. Some women wept openly. Some talked of “mutiny.” Others were more cynical.

“It was just a movie,” said Hussein Gharibi, a 54-year-old juice vendor, scoffing at those who had gotten their hopes up. “They were all just players in a movie.”......nytimes

Players in a movie seems appropriate. Following Tiananmen Square, it seems like the sequel.

Russia Says No to Gates on Anti Missile Defense

As it seems we continue to develop a missile defense shield that will defend part of Europe from any missile attack from Iran. At first glance, this seems a valid response from the threat a radical Iran presents. However, the other side of the coin rests on Russia's interpretation of why we are putting a missile defense shield in their backyard.

Obviously, they are still paranoid about United States intentions regarding NATO gobbling up all of the old Soviet satellite countries. With the intent of deploying components of the shield in Poland and the Czech Republic, Russia has tied the new nuclear arms treaty deal with our removal of AMD.

The Russians and Georgians are opposed to the shield as they say it adds to "a policy of encirclement". But, can we do without it and still keep Iran under wraps? Do we need to stop deployment in order to pacify Prime Minister Putin. Putin is in the process of rebuilding Russian military capabilities. New aircraft, deployment of naval forces in the Mediterrean, which hasn't been done in decades, show Putin is definitely showing his ability to control Russia. I wonder whether they can afford to get in a spending war with NATO and especially, America? Russian spending is still in the $50 billion range while the U.S of A has spent around $350 billion as of last year. Russia rose from 7th to 3rd in global military spending.....lakotahope
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Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Andrey Nesterenko told a press briefing, commenting on the initiative of the US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates to deploy US AMD elements on Russia’s soil.

Poland, a staunch ally of the United States, and the Czech Republic, were chosen after an analysis of the possible missile trajectories from Iran to Europe and from Iran to the United States. Germany was considered but Poland and the Czech Republic provided the best interceptor and radar coverage of the trajectories, Obering said. Once installed, protection would stretch from Poland to Portugal and across to Ukraine and parts of western Russia.

NATO is currently developing its own missile defense system. The so-called theater protection system is designed protect ground troops and small areas rather than cities and entire countries. Despite its modest scale, the NATO project has been subject to serious delays.

Lieutenant General Henry Obering, said the U.S. has already spent $180 billion on the shield program for Eastern Europe, made clear it that would remain outside NATO.

"If it was passed to NATO, there would be delays in deploying it," he said. In any case, he said he saw no reason why the U.S. and NATO systems could not be complementary. Referring to the U.S. shield, he said "this could be viewed as a U.S., a Polish and a Czech Republic contribution to a missile defense capability for NATO in general and it certainly complements what could be coming out of a NATO missile defense program on its own."

Moscow has harshly criticized the U.S. plan, saying it was targeted against Russia. Obering dismissed such suggestions, saying the shield was "purely defensive. This in no way, shape or form threatens the Russia missile fleet," said Obering. "There are only a small number of interceptors while Russia has thousands of nuclear weapons. The numbers just don't add up."

He invited Russia to visit the missile sites in the U.S. and in Poland and Czech Republic, provided those governments agreed.....nytimes

Democrats Primary Is Over In Virginia

Creigh Deeds, won the democratic primary to see who will go head to head with Republican Bob McDonald. In the race for attorney general in 2005, McDonnell won by 360 votes in the closest general election in Virginia history. With McAuliffe having deep pockets and quite a bit of support from the DNC, and Deeds being the low man on the totem pole for the money race, Deeds won by almost double over both candidates......lakotahope

I must note that McAuliffe and Moran were on the anti gun side of this campaign.

Deeds meanwhile has been fending off attacks on at least two gun issues: his opposition to a 1993 law limiting handgun purchases to one a month, and voting in 2008 and again this year to unsuccessfully override Gov. Timothy M. Kaine's veto of legislation banning concealed firearms in bars.

However, Deeds has raised the ire of some gun-rights advocates by urging a compromise to close a loophole in Virginia law that exempts some purchases of fireams at gun shows from a compulsory background check.

Deeds was endorsed for attorney general in 2005 by the National Rifle Association.

The Conservatives in Virginia usually curry the pro-gun vote, but as the Democrats are not pushing this issue, then they remove an argument the Republicans could have used against them. I understand 62 or so Democratic congress members cannot be swayed to swing against the pro-gun stance of many Americans. President Obama mentioned that this would be an issue left alone for another time...... lakotahope

Two Democrats In New York Go Republican

I certainly didn't expect any Democrat to switch to the Republican party at this time. As Republicans work to rebuild and actually develop a cohesive party, they still show fractal displacement. The party leaders always seems to be slapping one another at every chance they get. Who knows? I really want to know why the democratic senators suddenly slid over to the other side in mid session?? ........ lakotahope

Matthew Borghese - AHN Editor
Albany, NY (AHN) - New Yorkers awoke to political intrigue on Tuesday after two Democrats said they would caucus with Republicans, changing the alignment of the state Senate.

Calling it a "coup d'etat," an editorial in the New York Daily News called Albany a "madhouse" "with the lunatics firmly in charge of the asylum." The New York Times called the switch "a stunning and sudden reversal of fortunes for the Democratic Party."

Private negotiations have convinced two Democrats, Sens. Pedro Espada Jr. and Hiram Monserrate, to caucus with Republicans, allowing GOP Sen. Dean Skelos to become the state's Senate Majority Leader.

Democrats across the state were reeling from the incident. Democratic New York Gov. David Paterson spoke out against the flip calling it an "outrage."

"Once again, Albany's dysfunction raised its ugly head," Paterson added.

However, the Senate is still in session and lawmakers are worried legislation will go undressed as politicians bicker about the switch. Chief among proposed legislation is a bill which would approve budget changes for the Big Apple.

"I expect to have an on-time budget," "We would be in uncharted waters," New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said. "But we have to have reasonable assurances that revenue will be there. And if this were to get held up - and I don't know if that's the case, this is hypothetical - we would not be facing anything that we've seen before."

http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7015436051#ixzz0HwIyniEk&D

Brave New World--Revisited

It's coming! Just keep an eye on Great Britain as the government seeks to watch, listen and be in all people's everyday existence. This country is at the forefront of abolishing personal liberties. Their CCTV system is unparalleled in the world as one would think this would be the Soviet Union during the Cold War. GB and other EU countries are in the process tagging citizen's cars with GPS for tracking purposes, hiding behind the umbra of using this acquired data as a means to tax driver's mileage. The U.S. is kicking this idea around even now .lakotahope
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Programmes - Law in Action - A spy in your bin?

Is electronic monitoring of rubbish a threat to privacy - or a reasonable way to check how much we chuck?. Page last updated at 15:03 GMT, Tuesday, 28 October 2008 A spy in your bin?

news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/law_in_action/7694832.stm

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UK Must Log Web and Phone Use

All internet and phone traffic should be recorded to help the fight against terrorism, according to one of the UK's former spy chiefs.

Civil rights campaigners have criticised ministers' plans to log details of such contact as "Orwellian".

But Sir David Pepper, who ran the GCHQ listening centre for five years, told the BBC lives would be at risk if the state could not track communication.

Agencies faced "enormous pressure" to keep up with technology, he said.

"It's a constant arms race, if you like. As more technology, different technology becomes available, the balance will shift constantly."

The work of GCHQ, which provides intelligence on foreign and domestic threats, is so secretive that until the 1980s the government refused to discuss its existence.

Last year, then Home Secretary Jacqui Smith announced plans for a database to record details of the times and dates of messages and phone calls but said the content of conversations would not be kept.

She said such data was used as "important evidence in 95% of serious crime cases" and in almost all security service operations.

'Pervasive'

Details of the times, dates, duration and locations of mobile phone calls, numbers called, website visited and addresses e-mailed are already stored by telecoms companies for 12 months under a voluntary agreement.

However, the Liberal Democrats said the government's plans were "incompatible with a free country and a free people".

In February, the Lords constitution committee said electronic surveillance and collection of personal data had become "pervasive" in British society.

Its members said the situation threatened to undermine democracy.

The Right to Speak for Gun Rights On Campus Doesn't Always Exist

Colleges in general are FAR leaning leftist organizations. Fine if you just want to hug bunnies and trees, but if you want to discuss our "God given rights" as appointed us by the Bill of Rights don't go to college without checking first!... lakotahope
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"The fact is, the topic is so explosive," said Robert Shibley, spokesman for the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE), which tracks discriminatory practices against students involved in conservative issues on campus. They've been dealing with "more and more" complaints about efforts to "squelch gun speech," he said. The latest flareup involves Christine Brashier, who says officials at the Community College of Allegheny County (CCAC) violated her First Amendment right to free speech when they stopped her from posting and distributing fliers advocating for concealed carry on campus, and for a new chapter of Students for Concealed Carry on Campus (SCCC) at the college. The group has about a dozen chapters on other Pennsylvania campuses, Shibley said. "I genuinely wanted to start discussion on the
topic," Brasier told FOXNews.com this week. " I am not such an avid gun owner as much of the news has made me out to be — I simply believe in liberty and that college is the place for a debate about important issues such as this one." Brashier, 24, who is a freshman at the school, said she worked for the last three years in a law office, and before that, as an assistant manager at a convenience store, which was robbed at gunpoint twice while she worked there. She is licensed to carry a concealed weapon in Pennsylvania, but school policy prevents her from
carrying it on campus. Most states allow schools to set their own policy on concealed carry laws. Brashier maintains she was hauled into a meeting with the dean, who told her "that the club would never be approved, that the school did not wish to discuss the topic, and to cease speaking about it as well as destroy the literature."
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But gun rights advocates are wary. Since the Virginia Tech murders in 2007, in which 32 people were gunned down by a student with a history of mental illness, a line has been drawn between those who feel that licensed gun owners should be allowed to carry concealed weapons on campus, and those who believe prevention and tougher gun laws are the best response to a campus gunman.

In March, Central Connecticut State University student John Wahlberg and two classmates gave a presentation for their communications class on whether the death toll at Virginia Tech might have been smaller if faculty and students had been allowed to carry guns. That night, Wahlberg says, he was called into the campus police department, which already had a list of his registered guns, which were locked away off-campus.

Wahlberg's professor had reported him to security out of "safety" concerns, according to The Recorder, the campus newspaper.

The incident has seemingly given the issue a boost, as CCSU students advocating concealed carry were protesting on campus in April, carrying around empty holsters to make their point.

But just a year earlier, students planning a similar protest at Tarrant County College in Texas were told to leave their empty holsters at home and were restricted to demonstrating in a "free speech zone" on campus. .....foxnews
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Obama Speaks From His Wish List

CAIRO — President Obama pledged on Thursday to “seek a new beginning between the United States and Muslims around the world,” imploring America and the Islamic world to drop their suspicions of one another and forge new alliances to confront violent extremism and heal religious divides.

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Ever since the Crusades, Christians and Muslims, have fought a struggle that can in no way be stopped. I believe the two cannot co-exist on the same island.....lakotahope

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President Obama:

States and Muslims around the world,” imploring America and the Islamic world to drop their suspicions of one another and forge new alliances to confront violent extremism and heal religious divides.

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“We have a responsibility to join together on behalf of the world we seek,” he said. “A world where extremists no longer threaten our people, and American troops have come home; a world where Israelis and Palestinians are each secure in a state of their own, and nuclear energy is used for peaceful purposes; a world where governments serve their citizens, and the rights of all God’s children are respected.”

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He described the bond between the United States and Israel as “unbreakable,” and urged Hamas, the Islamic militant group in control of the Gaza Strip, to stop violence.