EAinCO's blog

Universal Health Care - another oo ahh it sounds lovely on the surface. But it just won't work here without reevluating our system entirely.

Sure, some are pulling it off - Denmark, Belgium, Germany-- but theyre countries are run in entirely idfferent ways. In these countries, the cost of all these lovely services, like health care, is about 80% whereas in the US, the cost of government is about 45%. HUGE difference their. A socialist system just doesn't run the way a democratic system does.  Read More »

       Nothing slows travel from Sri Lanka's capital city to the heartland town of
Kandy except the winding uphill road. There are no police; there are no checkpoints; there are no soldiers with guns. There is no evidence of the ongoing ethnic clash that is ripping
Sri Lanka apart. The ethnic clash between the Tamil and the Sinhalese ethnic groups has threatened to cause a complete collapse of
Sri Lanka. The problem is this: The Tamil minority ethnic group - an entirely separate culture, language, and ethnicity from the Sinhalese majority, wants to have land in
Sri Lanka to call its own. Yet, the Sinhalese-ruled government will not consent to giving the Tamils land. When we ask the question, what can the government of
Sri Lanka do to end its civil war, the answer is this.
Sri Lanka has a chance to find peace, but only if the government will participate in bilateral talks with the Tamils, open the A-9 Highway, and be willing to make concessions for peace. As of July 1st, more than 700 soldiers and civilians have been killed in 2006 and more than 65,000 have died since the conflict began in 1983. The civil war must be addressed before the situation grows even more dire.
       The most critical step towards reaching peace in
Sri Lanka is continuing bilateral talks between the Sinhalese government and the Tamil “Tigers”. Talks have occurred in the past with
Norway acting as an offshore balancer in the negotiations. However, these have fallen through multiple times as both sides have caused break downs in the discussions.  Luckily, some positives have come from the past failed meetings. Eric Solheim, the chief Norwegian negotiator, said that in previous meetings, both sides claimed they were committed to working out a peaceful solution and both sides are still in support of the 2005 Ceasefire agreement. The ceasefire itself is another serious problem. Both sides have violated the agreement according to the Daily Times on January 2, 2006. There is no way the the groups can negotiate peace when they have to worry about their families, friends, and countrymen being killed every day. Talks must continue if the two groups are to ever reach a positive solution.
       The reason the most recent set of talks broke down was because of the closure of the A-9 Highway (BBC News, Oct 30). This highway, which runs through Sri Lanka to the
Jaffna
Peninsula, was closed earlier this year by the government in retaliation to rebel attacks. However, this highway is the primary way many Tamil’s, the predominant group on the Penninsula, can receive any of the humanitarian aid they desperately need. Voice of
America claimed on October 29 that the closure of the highway created an “open prison” for more than 600,000 people who can barely survive without the food and medical aid. The highway really has no impact on the Sinhalese, and would in no way negatively affect them. However, Tamils are dying every day because they cannot get materials. The government must open the peninsula in order to appease the Tamils and bring them back into open negotiations.
       Finally both sides, but especially the Sinhalese government, must be more willing to make concessions. The Boston Globe (June 29) reports that the Tamils will nto give up the conflict until they have land to call their own, but the Sinhalese will not concede to giving them land. This situation has deadlocked the opposing groups in a bloody stalement. Both sides need to be more willing to gain some and lose some. One leading possibility is that the Sinhalese government creates an asymmetrical federalist state, in which Tamil’s have their own region or province with near-autonomy and the Sinhalese retain only the highest power over them. This allows the Tamil’s their land and relative power but retains the federal power of the Sinhalese government. As well, the peaceful heartland city of
Kandy should be taken as an example. There, because of its central location, the Tamils and Sinhalese live together in relative harmony. They have developed trading relations and have become economically dependent upon each other. Trading partners do not generally attack each other. Thus, if the rest of the Tamils and Sinhalese could develop economic ties in the future, sustainable peace would be more attainable.
       The city of Kandy is a picture of what all of
Sri Lanka should look like. The Tamil Tigers and the Sinhalese government must work together to find a compromise suitable for both parties. By participating in bilateral talks, opening the A-9 highway, and conceding in order to compromise, the Sri Lankan government will be able to end the civil war and create a lasting peace; a
Sri Lanka in which there is no need for brutal police, highway checkpoints or soldiers with guns.  Read More »

So I've noticed in my short time on the blog that there have been a bunch of minimum wage topics floating around, but most - at least the ones I've had the chance to read - advocate minimum wage hikes without exploring the negatives of the issue. The truth is that while minimum wage raises sound lovely - I'm mean, who doesn't want more money? As a teenage girl who loves to shop, I certainly would love an extra roll of cash in my pocket - but theres serious drawbacks to the miminum wage. According to Bruce Bartlett from the National Center for Policy Analysis "Experience proves that mimnimum wage hurts more people than it helps". Minimum wage hikes result in serious unemployment increases, the burden of which is generally lain on minorities, teenagers, and those with lesser educations. Check the stats...  Read More »

I've blogged before - plenty - but never in this kind of a context. Xanga users don't particularly care about why Omar Al-Bashir should hang with Saddam or the reasons the North Korea will or won't use their nukes. They don't know the context of the violence in Sri Lanka or why France will be predominantly Islamic in 10 years. If this were a Xanga or Myspace blog, I most certainly would be telling about how I won first place in extemp at my Speech and Debate meet yesterday, or how my current crush became my current boyfriend just this morning. I probably will tell that all on xanga - perhaps right after I blog here. But the whole idea that there actually are other people out ther - somewhere - who will be interested in listening to me talk about whats wrong with every country today , instead of just obliging to listen like my friends, is so exciting.  Read More »