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I am a Green Party member who lives in San Francisco. I have been active in water planning in the Middle Rio Grande region of New Mexico. I write political articles on the need for third parties, the contemporary failures of public education, the Kurdish national movement and water management and urban planning. I was given the name Mato Ska in a traditional ceremony and am a Peace and Dignity runner.
SHARE Thursday, October 6, 2011 It's Easier to Occupy Wall Street Than it is to Change It
How we work together will prove as important as what we do to try and solve the problems. If we are willing to listen we can learn. When we utilize the strengths of some and the distinct strengths of others we find new alternatives emerge.
SHARE Wednesday, March 23, 2011 UN Independent Expert on Water and Sanitation as a Human Right Deserves Criticism
UN Independent Expert on Water and Sanitation as a Human Right Deserves criticism from all engaged in advocacy of water issues. The substance of the investigation barely scratched the surface of the subject and all too readily disregarded ongoing work in regional water planning needed as a foundation for establish water as a human right.
SHARE Saturday, April 10, 2010 AMERICANS AND THE KURDISH NATIONAL MOVEMENT
As the facts are made known to the American public, there will be an increased awareness of the efforts by governments in the region to repress the Kurdish national movement. We will contue to raise our voices and speak the truth so that the sun will shine on the Kurdish nation.
SHARE Wednesday, December 9, 2009 Ted Glick's Book on a Political Strategy on Climate Change
Defining the Mission of a unified alliance needs to be focused on the goals that we are striving for. Constituencies that we have worked with in the past need to be expanded based on common concerns and political action needs to be based on demonstrated common direction towards our common goal and not the entire Platform or political agenda of any one ideological or political group.
(2 comments) SHARE Monday, October 5, 2009 Regional Water Planning and California Water Crises
A Green position needs, on the one hand, to promote a sound decision-making process that assures grassroots democracy while representing the needs and concerns of our voters and supporters in defining and supporting policies to implement our state Green Party Platforms. Structural reforms in our political entities are a fundamental focus in accomplishing both goals.
SHARE Tuesday, April 28, 2009 Arlen Moves On
I don't see the issue of Arlen Spector being a "moderate" is as significant as the fact that he remains unwilling to confront the fundamental policy issues.
(1 comments) SHARE Sunday, April 12, 2009 President Obama Misses Fundamental Kurdish Issues in Turkey
It is ironic that President Obama chose Turkey to declare: "There's an old Turkish proverb: 'You cannot put out fire with flames.'" It is obviously a proverb that the Turkish government, not to mention the US government, needs to be reminded of.
(1 comments) SHARE Thursday, April 9, 2009 Greens urge amendment to food safety bills
The Green Party's national platform advocates "legislation that assists new farmers and ranchers, that promotes widespread ownership to small and medium-sized farms and ranches, and that revitalizes and repopulates rural communities and promotes sustainable development and stewardship"
SHARE Thursday, February 26, 2009 Government, Planning and the Politics of Water
The age of unlimited growth is over economically and ecologically. We need to balance our water budgets as we need to balance our financial budgets. We need to save our resources, just as we need to save our money, as never before and take each new step cautiously. Pyramid schemes for new supplies will never provide us with the stability we need for the future.
SHARE Tuesday, January 13, 2009 Schools Failing, Money Needed
California's public education system is dysfunctional and it is the children and the future generation that have paid the costs. In addressing both the short term issues and the long term, true solutions need to be found.
SHARE Wednesday, December 24, 2008 Nahla Hussein al-Shaly: A Martyr for Women
The struggle for women's equality is a profound focus in those movements that seek to oppose the institutionalization of Islamic sharia law in defining social and political rights. The brutal murder of Nahla Hussein al-Shaly was aimed at preventing the effective political organization of Kurdish and Iraqi women defending equal rights.
(3 comments) SHARE Saturday, December 6, 2008 Automakers Point the Economy at the Peoples' Heads
Now is precisely the time to invest in a new mass transit infrastructure that will cost less than $34 billion and produce results that will address the fundamental flaws of the current auto/carbon based system.
SHARE Wednesday, November 19, 2008 Tikrit Rallies against Kurds while Maliki Fiddles
So once again the Americans leave Kurds without following through on their commitments made to them. Once again Saddam's henchmen raise their heads and seek to legitimize their status at the expense of others. Once again world powers are oblivious to the future of Kurds. Once again Turkey is afforded power to make decisions regarding the future of Kurdish peoples.
SHARE Friday, November 14, 2008 Is Russia a Good Ally for Kurdistan?
As the United States relinquishes its influence in the region, new decisions will be made. One thing is assured: Turkish antipathy toward the Kurdish nation and peoples has shown no indications of changing.
SHARE Saturday, November 8, 2008 Turkish Troops Enforce Baghdad's Violation of Kirkuk Referendum
As long as the Turkish troops remain stationed on the border and as long as the government in Baghdad refuses to implement Article 140 the future remains uncertain and the Kurdish people should not take anything for granted.
(2 comments) SHARE Sunday, November 2, 2008 Casting a NO Vote
Since the 2004 Democratic Convention, the people of the US have been carefully prepped for Obama. After so many losers over the years, Dems are feeling pumped up by the whole thing. The bailout and the Afghan war and its spread to Pakistan are singularly demonstrative of the continuum we will face as a nation. I prefer a NO vote, thank you very much.
(2 comments) SHARE Tuesday, October 21, 2008 Kurds, Ottomans and Persians
It should also be noted that the fall of the Ottoman Empire in World War One did leave the issues of boundaries and the establishment of new states determined by the British and the French at the expense of the Kurdish nation.
SHARE Thursday, October 16, 2008 We can bring to birth a new world from the ashes of the old
The future requires new creation, new life. Our initiative now is our willingness to find support and pooling of resources. We can bring to birth a new world from the ashes of the old
(2 comments) SHARE Wednesday, October 15, 2008 The Approaching 401(k) Tsunami Following the Stock Quake
We need a DNR, Do Not Resuscitate, order for the 401(k) and focus on restoration and strengthening of Social Security in the recognition that it will be more than just a supplement to the elderly in the years ahead.
SHARE Saturday, October 11, 2008 Hoover's RFC 2.0
Disbursement of funds and implementation of financial support of small businesses, home owners and the unemployed needs to start from the bottom up. Local bodies for disbursement need to be structured in a way to address the brush fires already at work in our communities.