This comes as a huge shock: China is mad at the Dalai Lama. Again. The Dalai Lama made a visit to a Tibetan monastery in India. The monastery is in an Indian state (Arunachal Pradesh) that is a source of conflict between India and China. Arunachal Pradesh is administered as an Indian state, but China claims portions of it as South Tibet. China was not happy that the Dalai Lama came to this border-disputed area. The monastery is close to the Tibetan border. China says the visit undermines Chinese authority, is anti-China, and is damaging to China-India relations. The Dalai Lama said his visit was "non-political and aimed at promoting universal brotherhood and nothing else." The Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh said China has "no right to interfere in India's internal matters." (Full Story)
Interesting article on a wealthy, Brazilian socialite that operates a school for children in the slums of Rio. "There are 430 students, many from broken families in which drugs and violence are the norm. But, at the school, those children have a computer room, a library, free meals." Her ultimate goal is to diminish the intellectual gap between the rich and the poor. (Full Story)
Democrats had to make concessions on the issue of abortion to attract the anti-choice Democrats that said they wouldn't vote for the bill if the language didn't change. These Democrats wanted to strengthen the language that bans federal subsidies to fund abortion. This resulted in an amendment that explicitly bans the proposed new government health insurance plan from covering abortions (except in cases of rape, incest, or when the life of the mother is threatened). In addition, private policies purchased with federal subsidies will have the same restrictions and if the individual wants abortion coverage, they will have to purchase a separate insurance rider with their own money. Diana DeGette, one of the Democratic Representatives that is a member of the pro-choice caucus, argued that the idea of purchasing separate abortion riders is "offensive to women" and that no one plans for an unwanted pregnancy. Many pro-choice Democrats are hoping the amendment will be stripped during the conference committee (where congressmen from both chambers resolve the two bills and come up with one single bill to be passed -- assuming the Senate does in fact pass a bill).
Time will tell if a health reform bill will pass Congress and make its way to President Obama. It will be interesting to see the next steps to see what kind of bill emerges, if any. If a bill does pass, time will also tell whether it's a successful reform or not. But one thing is for sure, at least Democrats tried. And they've tried hard. And that's a lot more than can be said of the Republican party. And I keep hearing these Republicans saying, "I'm for health care reform, just not this bill." Which I don't believe is true -- their efforts show they don't really want reform, they want the status quo. Or the status quo with minor changes. We need a very different health care system in place, because the one we have is not working and is not sustainable. The Republicans want to put politics above the American people. They want health care to fail because they're hoping it will result in good numbers for the Republican party in the mid-term elections. How can this party claim to be for the people? (Full Story) (Full Story)
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