Supreme Court Takes First Step

As amazing as this sounds, it took the U.S. Supreme Court 217 years to appoint their first female special master.  Kristin Lindsey Miles of San Francisco was appointed by the court as special master in the case of South Carolina v. North Carolina.  

Special Masters are appointed by courts to perform fact finding.   This case is one of the few types of suits where the 
Supreme Court is the first to hear the case (original 
jurisdiction).

I find it amazing that it took this long to appoint a female. This is the same court who "broke" the color barrier in Brown v. Board of Ed and has made numerous rulings on gender based cases and laws.

Pharma Ads

I know it's been a while since I posted.  I've been focussing more on my blog over at my professional mediation website, Sanns Mediation.  

This morning, I saw a report of a study done by the University of Chicago.
The report indicated that nearly half of doctors in the US prescribe placebos to their patients.  Placebos are treatments that have no physical reason to work (such as a sugar pill), but that they patient thinks will work (and sometimes does as a result).  One of the primary placebos given are anti-biotics given to people with a cold or flu.  Anti-biotics work only on bacteria and not the viruses which cause cold and bacteria.  This is one way in which anti-biotics have created treatment resistant bacteria like MRSA.

Why do doctors do this?  Basically to shut patients up who want the doctor to prescribe something to help them.  It is my contention that once the FDA allowed pharmaceutical companies to advertise their products directly to consumers, it created a "pill society" whereby any ill can be cured by taking a pill.  Just look at any tv commericial for a drug...it looks like it could cure all of your ills while side effects (diarrhea, flatulence, high blood pressure, death) are all glossed over in a soft announcer's voice (or placed in 6 point font on the bottom the screen).

Sometimes a cold just needs to be toughed out.  Instead, we've created a society whose unintended consequence is the creation of bugs we cannot kill or treat.

Patients have the right to make informed decisions.  That is simply not happening in the current set-up of medical treatment.

We need to stop drug ads directly to consumers.  That is why you have a doctor, to help you make the right decisions for your treatment and not to simply act as a prescription scrivener.

The Men Who Cried Wolf

I am now reading in the media about the conduct of the Prime Minister of Lebanon, who admittedly is in a tough position. On one hand, Fuad Siniora is allied with the west in opposing Syria domination of Lebanon. On the other, he has 2 ministers from Hezbollah sitting in his government. But, at the end of the day, the only thing you leave earth with when all is said and done is your reputation and integrity.

AP reported this morning that at a meeting of Arab League foreign ministers in Beirut, Siniora was in tears as he described an alleged "massacre" by Israeli forces in Houla, a town in southern Lebanon. He further called these actions state terrorism. Once the cameras disappear, it turns out that only 1 person was killed in an area that Israel has repeatedly warned civilians to leave.

Yesterday, I read on the Washington Post how Adnan Hajj, a photographer for Reuters, doctored at least two photographs, making the Arab losses seem much worse than it is.  This same photographer managed to find himself at the alleged Qana "massacre", whose death toll it now turns out may not be anywhere near what was originally reported and may well be a set-up.  Reuters, to their credit, disassociated themselves with the photographer and removed all of his 
photos from their catalog.   However, the Washington Post still has his photos posted on their website
(do a search).

The Palestinians have long been masters at propaganda deceptions. Pierre Rehov has a number of films that address the issue.

Now I read that the Arab governments are warning the US about the violence in Lebanon and how that violence could spread to other countries. Well, we've heard this one before too. Many times. US in Iraq. Israel in Lebanon in the 1990s. Israel in the West Bank. Israel in Gaza. Yet, not one single Arab government has been overthrown in the last 20 years at least. The monarchies and dictatorships in the Arab world always seem to be able to quell dissent.

There's an expression that says trying the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result is the height of madness. The lies and propaganda have changed nothing for the Arabs. They have more wealth than almost any region in the world thanks to the large oil reserves and high oil prices and most live in poverty. Who are the morons?

The Paradox

The middle east is a funny place. There are many places on earth that seem devoid of pragmatism and logic (including our own White House), but nowhere more so than the middle east.

About a month ago, the Palestinians elected Hamas as the majority party in the Palestinian Legislature. Most opinion polls show that the people were tired of the lack of progress on anything under the leadership of the Fatah party – whether it is the peace process, economy, anti-corruption, personal safety, or education. Hamas was the alternative they chose.

You would think that Fatah, a party that has dominated Palestinian politics since the 1960s, would have some sort of reaction to an historic loss. A shake-up at the top? Bring in new blood? The party breaking apart into factions? Nope, none of that has happened yet.

However, Hamas has two major issues. First, they’ve never governed anything other than a terroristic insurgency against Israel and a small social services network. It’s a far cry from governing a pseudo-nation. Second, their platform – unchanged to this day – does not recognize Israel’s right to exist. They’ve put all sorts of semantics around it (long-term truce), but for all intents and purposes, they will not recognize Israel’s right to exist.

So, the western nations (US and the EU) have a problem. The Bush Administration has pushed democracy as the cure for all of the mideast’s ills. As usual, they miscalculated. And now, the western nations are faced with a choice of whether to support, in any fashion, the soon-to-be-installed Hamas government. This includes economic support for the impoverished Palestinian people. Direct support to the Palestinian Authority would result in some of that money being used to kill Israelis. As James Baker astutely noted, all money is fungible.

Meanwhile, the Palestinians are screaming about how they’ll all starve without these western funds. Now, did they really think there were no consequences to their actions? Are they that stupid? You elect a bunch of terrorists who are sworn to eradicate a country that’s not only a UN member, but a close ally of the US and most EU nations and you still want support on that???

But there’s more. Most of the PA’s budget comes from western sources. Most of the Arab countries who do not recognize Israel do so because, so they say, of their solidarity with their Palestinian brethren. Yet, will all the oil riches of the Arab states, it is the west that is left to support the Palestinians.

So, how about this: either the Arabs recognize Israel en masse, or start sending money themselves to their beloved Palestinians? That would remove a paradox. Of course, neither will happen, as its not in the best interests of the despotic regimes who rule most of the Arab countries.

So where exactly has this democratization led us to? Civil war in Iraq and terrorists running the PA. You got to love the stability.

http://www.sannmediation.com

Failure to Learn

The philosopher George Santayana once said, "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." It is a shame that America's leaders have failed to learn.

This week in Iraq, an unidentified group blew up the Askariya shrine in Samarra. This shrine is the burial site of one of the last founders of the Shia sect of Islam and a holy site to Shiite muslims. This act set off sectarian violence in Iraq that has led to the deaths of over 100 people. But does all this come as a surprise? Not to students of history and political science.

The modern middle east was "established" largely by the British and French. After the Ottoman Empire lost World War I, their former territory in the middle east was broken up to be controlled by the two European powers. If you look at a map of the middle east and think the borders look a little goofy, there is a reason why. Two main factors went into drawing the lines: oil (surprise!) and control of the population.

The French and British figured that if you kept the native population angry at each other (i.e. Sunnis against Shia, Jews against Arabs, Moslems against Christians), they would be less apt to revolt over their control. Iraq has populations of Shia, Sunni and Kurds in addition to a number of smaller groups like the Turkmen.

When Saddam Hussein was in charge, he -- being a minority Sunni -- kept things under control, primarily using brutal means. But history shows other places that had problems once a strongman is no longer in the picture. The one that is the closest analog is Yugoslavia. While Tito was in power, the country comprised of Serbs, Croats, Bosnians, Albanians and Montenegrins was united. Once he passed on, the country broke down into civil war and atrocities. It has taken the intervention of the UN and NATO to bring peace to the region, at the expense of tens of thousands of peackeeping troops in Bosnia and Kosovo. They will likely be there for years to come to enforce the peace.

So, now we find Iraq on the brink of a civil war. Is it worth keeping Iraq as a unified country? Or should it devolve into its natural state of three states? The United States, due to promises to our allies (mainly the British, French and Turks) has agreed to keep Iraq united. The Turks are concerned the most since an independent Kurdistan is a threat to their territorial integrity given a large Kurdish population in their eastern provinces (along with a separatist movement).

As the British found out in Palestine in 1946-47, when the native population want you out, you'll be leaving soon. And they'll still be fighting with each other. Does the United States want to be stuck between fighting Shia and Sunnis?

The U.S. invasion of Iraq was one of the most poorly thought out plans in history. The reasons were contrived. WMD didn't exist and even if it did, how much of a threat was it to the U.S.? The main reason we invaded was to send a message to Iran and the Saudi monarchy. The former not to mess with U.S. interests and the latter to finally start fighting al Qaeda.

There was no plan to stem al Qaeda within Iraq and Syria. Iran, seeing the US stretched thin, became stronger (plus the ruse of WMD in Iraq ruined our credibility globally). There was no plan to integrate the country. There was no plan to govern. There was no plan to exit.

The U.S. needs to return our foreign policy into the hands of professionals and scholars. The elected politicians have royally screwed it up.

It's the Money!

As a dispute resolution specialist (http://www.sannsmediation.com), most conflicts are really over either control (or perception of control) and/or money. Today, I was reading about Pat Robertson's apology to the Sharon family. It's all about the money.

A little background first. Ariel Sharon, Prime Minister of Israel, has been debilitated by a massive stroke. As of this writing, he's in stable but critical condition. It seems very likely that he will not be able to return and serve in a political capacity.

After the stroke happened, an al Qaeda leader came out to say this was Allah's grand punishment for the death he has brought to Arabs. Concurrently, Pat Robertson came out to say on his "700 Club" program that G-d was punishing Sharon for dividing the Land of Israel via its withdrawal of the Gaza Strip. "G-d has enmity against those who 'divide My land,'" Robertson said during last week's broadcast. "G-d says, 'This land belongs to Me. You'd better leave it alone.'"

I guess it wasn't the fact that Sharon was out of shape and grossly overweight that had anything to do with his stroke. Not to mention his age and poor medical care after his minor stroke.

I always chuckle at these simplistic "cause and effect" comments. Funny how you never see an al Qaeda official comment about the successes of the Jews or America, an effect.

Robertson's comments did not go over very well in Israel. The Israeli Tourism Ministry was set to lease land in the Galilee to a group of American evangelists that included Robertson's in order build a Christian tourist center. After Roberston's comments, he was no longer welcome to be part of the group.

A day after this decision, lo and behold! An apology (sort of) for his comments. Robertson sent a letter to Omri Sharon, the PM's son, apologizing for his comments. If you read the actual text, his apology is mostly about the timing of his comments. I guess Robertson didn't want to be shut out on the Galilee project. After all, it's all about the money.

The Height of Madness

The federal government, last week, decided not to allow Cuba to participate in the inaugural World Baseball Classic tournament. The basis of the decision, as claimed, was the trade embargo against Cuba (i.e. that Cuba's participation would allow money to be earned by Cuba). This is a silly decision on a few levels but opens up a larger can of worms.

First, the tournament is a purely sporting event. Almost all international sporting events (like the Olympics) are awarded to a host country with the understanding that no country would be barred from participating for political reasons. Ooops.

Second, has the embargo worked? Castro has been in power since 1959. That's 47 years. He's outlasted 10 U.S. presidents, including 2 Bushes. He's lost his Soviet subsidy. Despite essentially the same policy towards Cuba regardless of the party holding the White House, Castro is still alive and in power.

Third, we don't allow direct trade with Cuba, but we do allow Cuban "refugees" to send money back to their families. Is there a difference between funding the government and funding the people?

They say that the height of madness is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a differnet result. It would seem to me a different strategy is in order. Why don't we inundate Cuba with Coca Cola, Levis jeans and MTV? Why don't we bring American culture to Cuba in a big way? It worked in the eastern bloc and it could work in Cuba.

One thing is for sure...the current program isn't working.

The Labor Stalemate...

I have been reading with interest about the labor dispute between the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) and Transport Worker's Union (TWU). The MTA runs bus and subway service in New York City and the TWU's contract expired Friday morning.

As a mediator, I tend to take a different view of disputes than most people would. Most people tend to form an opinion about which side is "right" based upon the "facts" they receive from the news. Most of the news is just spin from the both sides and the depth of the average news report -- TV or otherwise -- is not very enlightening. The news is so "dumbed down" today, it's somewhat insulting.

Mediators are trained not to form opinions. In fact, we're trained to be open minded to even the most seemingly of extreme positions. Let me see if I can enlighten you from a mediator's perspective.

The MTA has a powerful weapon on it's side: NY's Taylor Law. This law prohibits public employees from striking. The penalties can be quite severe, including a fine that's twice what the worker would have made the day they strunk. On top of this, they could face additional sanctions from a court for violating a court order not to strike.

But here's something else that doesn't make the news. The MTA could probably care less if the workers went out. They are a corporation separate from the City of New York. A strike hurts the City in a number of ways. The MTA would ultimately get bailed out by the State of New York or via a fare hike for any losses caused by a strike. Plus a strike would give the union some bad press, further helping the MTA's position.

On the flip side, the TWU probably doesn't trust the MTA. When the MTA last hiked fares, it was ultimately discovered as a result of lawsuits that "cooked books" were used to justify the hike. This year, the MTA is running a $1 Billion surplus. They were so happy about this that they gave rebates to riders during the holiday season, ostenably to encourage use of public transportation.

But they are claiming that now that the next two years will show huge deficits, on the order of $2 Billion. If you knew that you had a huge windfall of money this year and needed even more next year and the year after, would you be giving part of it away (through free rides)? It does not make a lot of sense. This probably explains why the union is so hesitant to go to arbitration (where a neutral third party would make a decision on the hike).

The latest and apparently "final" offer by the MTA is 3% raises per year over the next 3 years. The MTA also wants to increase the retirement age for newly hired workers and increase some co-payments for pharmaceuticals and doctors visits. Public employees should not be punished just because they don't work in the private sector. On the other hand, public employees generally get better benefits and pensions than equivalent workers in the private sector. So that's the trade-off.

As in every negotiation, both sides must realize that they will not win on all issues. Both sides must figure out what is truly important to them and drive towards getting those in a new contract agreement. What we see now is a lot of posturing to appease the various constituencies.

I am having trouble understanding why a mediator has not been brought into the proceedings. A mediator would help cut through all of the bluster and drive the parties towards what is truly important to them. The NLRB or FMCS I'm sure would love to help. Heck, if they really want a good mediator, they can give me a call or look me up at http://www.sannsmediation.com.

I welcome all comments on any of my articles.

Playoffs Here I Come!

Being in a weak division has its advantages. I'm in a fantasy football league that has 12 teams in 3 divisions. Each division winner proceeds to the playoffs along with 3 wildcards. When you start the season out 1-6, you don't expect to make the playoffs. Well, I ended up going 5-2 the second half of the season and I finished in a 3-way tie for the western division at 6-8. The first tie breaker is total points, and I had the most of the three teams.

So next weekend I start in the playoffs. I'm not sure I'll get far. Most of my stars are Giants and with their injuries, it could be a tough week.

War on Terrorism???

George W. Bush, since 9-11, likes to remind everyone very frequently that we are in the middle of a war -- a war on terrorism. This war, W tells everyone, is different than the other wars previously fought. I presume that he's referring to conventional armed wars and the Cold War (with W it's sometimes hard to tell).

This war, we are told, will be fought in the minds of the people who are the enemy (of course, this is never fully delineated). We must chase the terrorists whereever they can be found. We also must stop the financing going to the terrorists.

The US government just spend millions of dollars to prosecute a University of South Florida professor and three co-defendants who were accused of racketeering, conspiracy to maim and murder, and providing material support (i.e. financing) for Palestinian Islamic Jihad. A federal jury acquitted them on most of the charges and deadlocked on the rest.

Meanwhile, in the middle east, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) has just approved a new law which provides monthly grants to the families of "shahids". Shahid is Arabic for martyr. These are people that Israel and the US may well consider terrorists -- people who go into malls and restaurants and blow themselves up. Each shahid's family is entitled to $250/month plus another $50/month if they were married, $15/month for each child, $25/month for each living parent and $15/month to each brother the shahid was supporting.

While this might not sound like a lot of money to a westerner, this is a lot of money to a Palestinian whose average annual income is around $1000. Suddenly this seems less like compensation and more like an incentive. The average Palestinian that walks into a mall with a bomb vest is worth a lot more to his family dead than alive.

But let's examine where the Palestinian Authority gets its money from. Its primary donation sources are from the European Union, United States and other Arab countries. So in essence, the US and EU are now funding terrorism. What seems even more ironic was one of the Bush Administration's rationale's for invading Iraq -- that Saddam Hussein was giving each Palestinian shahid's family a $25,000 payment. I guess the US and EU are going to pick up the tab now.

Bush Administration foreign policy has been schizophrenic since inauguration day of 2001. This only further solidifies that perception. It ought to be interesting to see how the Administration and Congress reacts.

How Quickly We Forget...

Last weekend, there were plenty of news reports about how we really haven't learned many lessons in security from our experiences on 9-11. Certainly, there are things that have changed, but in reality, we've been lulled back into a sense of complacency.

I was reading through "Business Travel News", which I get in the mail. In it was an article talking about how the Transportation Security Administration is considering relaxing rules on what can be brought onto an airplane. Among the items they want to allow are small knives and scissors. Yes, you read that correctly. These are items that can be used as weapons and in fact were used to hijack the planes on 9-11 that lead to the deaths of some 3,000 people.

Have we forgotten about Richard Reid, the shoe bomber? Only the diligence of a passenger and the crew prevented a disaster there. Hence why lighters are banned.

So please tell me why our illustrious government wants to allow dangerous items in the passenger cabin again? The reason is that the TSA wants to make screenings more efficient. Well, getting rid of screenings altogether would accomplish that too. The purpose of screenings is to prevent security breaches aboard flying missiles. A small hole in a dyke in time accomplishes the same as a large hole.

For those of you who have never traveled overseas, you really have no idea how lucky we have it here. If you go to any mall in Turkey, you will go through a metal detector. Could you imagine that here? They even make you go through the metal detector and x-ray machines (all luggage) BEFORE you enter the terminal at the airport. One or two incidents here and we'll see that too.

We need to keep the stringent security in place.

Launch time...

I've finally launched my mediation business. I've chosen the name of Sanns Mediation Services, which is a division of Sanns, LLC.

I do both family/divorce mediation as well as commercial/business mediations. Mediation is a quicker and less expensive way to resolve a dispute.

For those who don't know, Sanns should have been my surname, but it was changed to Schuldiner when my grandfather was born back in the old country to keep the Schuldiner line going (it was my great grandmother's surname). Sadly and Ironically, the Sanns line was essentially snuffed out by the Nazis.

If you want to know more about mediation or what I do, you can find many answers on my website: http://www.sannsmediation.com . Or feel free to contact me.

Incidentally, Sanns in German means to think, thus I've used Rodin's the Thinker as my company logo.

Hey....

Welcome to my new blog. This is really more to keep the world informed of my life.