EDITORIAL
BY DHIREN SHAH
Hello Readers,
Is Trump doing good or doing right? Questions arise in many minds. First, in January, he pulled away from WHO (World Health Organization). Then, he threatened to pull away from NATO, which will have an impact on the relationships with our allies. However, the allies are not paying their fair share of NATO membership dues. With the NATO agreement, every country has to pay 2% of their GDP (Gross Domestic Product) on defense.
Russia was a NATO member. However, a breach of a 1990 agreement meant they were not renewed as a member since 2007. Right now, 32 countries are in NATO, out of about 195 countries. Everyone should share 2% of their GDP on defense. The U.S. has more than 2/3 of the GDP of all the other NATO countries combined. We have the most defense spending in the world.
On March 10, Ukraine launched the biggest drone missile attack on Moscow since the start of the war. This was in retaliation for an attack Russia did after the failed meeting with Trump. In the past, Hunter Biden was working in Ukraine, and President Joe Biden had a soft corner for Ukraine and sent them about $340 billion. When Zelensky was coming to the U.S., he was welcomed with dignity and respect as if he is the President of a large, powerful nation. He was awarded whatever he asked for. The news media was favoring Ukraine to change the minds of the people in support of that country. I don’t think Russian President Putin is right. He is a dictator. However, he doesn’t want Ukraine to become a NATO member, which would allow the U.S. and other countries to have a military base in Ukraine, right next to Russia.
When Russia (then the Soviet Union) secretly tried to have a base in Cuba in 1962, next to the U.S., President Kennedy and everyone objected and forced the USSR to remove their base, or otherwise start World War III. In exchange, the U.S. terminated a base that was close to the USSR. To stop the war, we must think of both sides in my opinion.
Fortunately, on March 11, Secretary of State Marco Rubio went overseas and struck a deal with Ukraine to get them to finally agree to a minerals deal with the U.S., as well as a ceasefire with Russia. The ball is in Russia’s court to agree.
About 20 years ago, I asked a mayor how much money he received or would receive for a reentry program. He replied that it was about $240,000 on one institution. I asked him how much money the township had received for a prevention program to prevent people from going to jail. He then replied about $40,000. I asked him why prevention programs have less support and money than prison reentry programs? He had no answer. The political leaders get more popularity to pinpoint easy programs for prison reentry. For prevention, there is no such program, but we have to keep teaching children non-stop. So, for politicians, it is not a single program they can take credit for.
Most of the leaders support prison reentry programs. However, we need to look hard for a variety of programs for prevention and spend more time and money teaching children of our community not to go in a bad direction. Children should not get tempted by gifts in their childhood. This is not easy, but that is my opinion.
Have a wonderful week. I’ll talk to you next week.
