Beth Arnold

Obamarifix: The Ghosts of Health Care Reform Past

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President Barack Obama went to bed troubled.  He tossed and turned over the watering down of health care reform by a Congress--even the Democrats / especially the Democrats--that wasn't doing its moral and civic duty to provide the needed overhaul that Americans need. 

It was a well-known fact that the Republican Party couldn't have cared less about providing aid to the poorest Americans, much less its Middle Class, but somehow, in years past, the Repubs worked their dark magic to erase this thought out of the voters' minds.  But in the 2008 election, American citizens cast their votes back to the Democrats, expecting them To Do The Right Thing.

Health care reform churned through Obama's sleep as the Sandman let our President dream his dreams. 

The Ghosts of Health Care Reform Past

 

Letter From Paris: Pantea's Roses for Iran

Image by youngrobv (Rob & Ale) via Flickr

What can we do when atrocities are committed to innocent people across the world?  When tyranny prevails and freedom is silenced? 

Traditionally, artists have expressed their feelings and opinions about society's successes or failures in their work.  They find their own visions to convey what fellow citizens, friends, or strangers are bearing, gladly or heavily. 

Our hearts have gone out to the Iranian people over the last weeks, and my fellow HuffingtonPost.com contributor and friend Marcia G. Yerman wrote this piece for HuffPo about an artistic endeavor in their support.  She sent me the note below.  I find her image striking and the reason for it horrifying.

"I recently contributed to Pantea's Roses, an online action by artists and writers in unity with the people of Iran.  My focus was on the rape of Iranian women."

From Marcia G. Yerman at Pantea's Roses:

Women who have taken part in demonstrations are now being executed.  However, according to the prevailing conservative version of Islamic law being enacted in Iran, a virgin can not be killed.  Currently, the women who took part in the opposition protest who have been arrested are being "married" to prison guards...who then consummate the marriage through rape.

The women are then killed.

Letter From Paris: Postcards from Greece

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"To Greece!  To Greece!" my internal oracle clamored for many years. But Greece, as the cradle of Western Civilization, was a huge subject to consider.  (Quibble with the title if you like, but others more knowledgeable than I have staked this claim.  Plus, I reserve the right to change my mind once I've been to Egypt.)  The sumptuous locations of history, beauty on land and sea, personages, both real and mythic--the weave and consciousness of culture and life--the Greek archaeology and anthropology overwhelmed me.  Okay, if we'd had three months if would have been easier to decide where to spend our precious time. 

I finally got the courage to plan our trip, and Greece was delicious!  Husband Jim, daughters Blair and Bret, niece Elizabeth, and I had a marvelous adventure.  Now I'm always happy to come home to Paris, and, hate to say this, but it's often hard for my holiday destinations to compare to the city where I live--but not with Greece.  I could buy another ticket right now to discover more of this country and its 2500 islands. 

Postcards from Greece:

At the archaeological site of the Delphi Oracle

Obamarifix: What Are We Going To Do about Health Care?

Image by sneakerdog via Flickr

On date night, President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama talked about how much they enjoyed their trip to Paris--seeing historical sights, the French food and wine, and experiencing French life and culture.  They commented on how the renewed relationship between France and the United States had reinvigorated appreciation and vitality between the two peoples and governments.

The Obamas wondered why the French could have the best health care system in the world, when the USA still wasn't taking care of its own American citizens.  They asked themselves why the most powerful nation in the world wasn't providing for the medical needs of its own people--and they wondered what we Americans were going to do about it? 

Their conversation went something like this:

Letter From Paris: The Hemingway Bar

When I'm feeling glamorous or want a fashionable drink, I head over to the Hemingway Bar at the legendary Ritz at the Place Vendome.  It's my favorite bar in Paris. 

Intimate and cozy, the Hemingway Bar has been a favorite glam watering hole for decades--yet another that writer Ernest Hemingway anointed with his tipple fairy dust.  And in the Hemingway tradition, not for sissies.  The drinks are 30 euros.  But it's a little indulgence when high cocktails are called for--and sooner or later this is definitely the case, even if one is in wine country.

 Hemingway Bar at the Ritz with Ernest Presiding

Obamarifix: Sarah Palin Rides Again

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Good golly, Miss Molly!  Sarah Palin shocked the American world by announcing her resignation as governor of Alaska. WOW! KABOOM! SHAZAM! What happened?

Good thing she wasn't elected vice-president of our United States.  She might have packed up her political toys and gotten the heck out of what would've even been a bigger mess for her leadership capacity than the governorship of our great state of Alaska gave her.

Sarah Palin, the truth about your sudden departure ain't out yet.  What's going on?!

Letter From Paris: Faces of Rue Charlot

Image by ¡Carlitos via Flickr

One thing I love about Paris is the beauty that surrounds me wherever I go.  No matter how many times I've been down a street, I can find something new to catch my eye.  To surprise me. To take my breath away.

I walk along le Marais's rue de Bretagne at least a couple of times a week.  One way.  I usually go home along another route, and so I hadn't seen these faces on the wall of rue Charlot until I walked along the street in the opposite direction.

What visions do our eyes behold and why?

I don't know who the pictured are, but I was taken with them.

Obamarifix: Al Franken Kicks A**

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After months and months--as long as Republican bozos, oops, I mean key sabotagers could fund their beat-him-down-and-destroy campaign--writer/comedian/politician Al Franken was finally  proclaimed the winner of the Minnesota Senate race. 

President Barack Obama met with newly annointed Senator Franken to share his thoughts on Franken's long awaited victory.