USA & World Economics

[QUOTE=RevBS;440763]You are the only member of the "Gang that Cannot Shoot Straight" to acknowledge that Universal Healthcare and Dodd-Frank are important. The rest of the gang usually dismiss them as Marxist ideas.

I think you and I have the potential to solve all of America's ills. I know the perfect location, too. Food, massage, hot tubs and FS are available when we need a break or two.[/QUOTE]Reverend, Please be realistic. While we could get enebriated to the point where we believed we could solve America's ills, we wouldn't have the power to get that done. Actually I'd consider Obama and Reid to the be the current heads of the "Gang that Can't Shoot Straight" club. My heroes are straight shooters -- Ronald Reagan, Margaret Thatcher, Lee Kuan Yew. My models for health care are Singapore and Hong Kong, which include private sector providers and hospitals, allow consumers a choice, and allow the free market to operate (outside of the public hospitals). And produce outcomes better than the USA at far lower costs. Democrats and Republicans played a big part in screwing up the financial system. Dodd Frank isn't a good solution. Instead it's better to have simple, effective rules and get regulators that do their jobs. And never bail out shareholders or bondholders of financial companies.

[QUOTE=Tiny12;440767]Reverend, Please be realistic. While we could get enebriated to the point where we believed we could solve America's ills, we wouldn't have the power to get that done. Actually I'd consider Obama and Reid to the be the current heads of the "Gang that Can't Shoot Straight" club. My heroes are straight shooters -- Ronald Reagan, Margaret Thatcher, Lee Kuan Yew. My models for health care are Singapore and Hong Kong, which include private sector providers and hospitals, allow consumers a choice, and allow the free market to operate (outside of the public hospitals). And produce outcomes better than the USA at far lower costs. Democrats and Republicans played a big part in screwing up the financial system. Dodd Frank isn't a good solution. Instead it's better to have simple, effective rules and get regulators that do their jobs. And never bail out shareholders or bondholders of financial companies.[/QUOTE]Sometimes, we take ourselves far too seriously. My tongue in cheek comments were meant to say that my contribution to any solutions in community & life only reaches to the people that I come into contact with on a daily routine basis. And within this small circle, that I practice the golden rule. Nothing more than that.

Nobody and no party can claim to have the perfect solution / answer. Life in general is a series of pragmatic compromises. You win some, and you lose some. You cannot blame Obama for any significant failure if you fail to come to the table. Obama's youth and surprise nomination & victory meant that he had a uphill battle within the Democratic leadership, let alone the screaming rejection & hate from across the aisle. As in the AP forum. You all deny this? A magic wand does NOT Obama have.

Today, America looks very different than 50 years ago, and 50 years from now, it will be very different again. So can we say that we have a more cut-throat culture / society today? Why and who have contributed to all this? The rise of corporate culture in the last 3-4 decades into our homes and daily lives. Frenzy and getting more frenzy. That's the way it is. I am no fan of this lifestyle. Mental health, already the next explosion. I cannot keep up with all these new disorders.

The leaders you attributed are rare. They are leaders who have the long view, and they view community / nation over the individual. Yes, they did. It might be a surprise to some people who approve of them.

[URL]http://www.latimes.com/world/middleeast/la-fg-israel-displaced-20140809-story.html[/URL]

[URL]http://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-0810-bird-gaza-israel-20140810-story.htmlll[/URL]

Nobody will give in. The never ending self destructive nature of mankind.

[QUOTE=RevBS;440769]You cannot blame Obama for any significant failure if you fail to come to the table.[/QUOTE]Obama is the one who failed to come to the table.

[QUOTE=RevBS;440769]Obama's youth and surprise nomination & victory meant that he had a uphill battle within the Democratic leadership, let alone the screaming rejection & hate from across the aisle[/QUOTE]"[I]Obama's youth and surprise nomination & victory[/I]" is just another way of saying that he skated his way into the White House without ever demonstrating that he possessed even a modicum level of executive management skills.

His subsequent inability to deal with the "[I]uphill battle within the Democratic leadership[/I]" clearily demonstrated that he did not and does not have the leadership skills for the job.

Jax.

[QUOTE=RevBS;440801]Nobody will give in.[/QUOTE]Bullshit.

The Palestinians could have peace tomorrow if they stop firing missiles into their neighboring country.

It's that simple.

Thanks,

Jax.

[QUOTE=Jackson;440806]Obama is the one who failed to come to the table.

"[I]Obama's youth and surprise nomination & victory[/I]" is just another way of saying that he skated his way into the White House without ever demonstrating that he possessed even a modicum level of executive management skills.

His subsequent inability to deal with the "[I]uphill battle within the Democratic leadership[/I]" clearily demonstrated that he did not and does not have the leadership skills for the job.

Jax.[/QUOTE]You remind me of some tennis players whose calls are always in their favor whenever it is a close call. Right, they insist they can see better from across the court when you are standing right where the ball drop.

[QUOTE=Jackson;440807]Bullshit.

The Palestinians could have peace tomorrow if they stop firing missiles into their neighboring country.

It's that simple.

Thanks,

Jax.[/QUOTE]And you know, Jackson, all them Arabs would have peace tomorrow if they would just give up idolatry and accept Jesus Christ as their personal savior.

It's that simple!

[QUOTE=RockinBob;440828]And you know, Jackson, all them Arabs would have peace tomorrow if they would just give up idolatry and accept Jesus Christ as their personal savior.

It's that simple![/QUOTE]RB, that's ridiculous.

I don't believe anyone has suggested that the Palestinians "[I]give up idolatry and accept Jesus Christ as their personal savior.[/I]", but perhaps you might post a link quoting the source of this statement.

In the mean time, do you have a problem understanding that the Palestinians have been firing rockets from the Gaza strip into populated neighborhoods of Israeli?

How do you justify that?

If you were Israeli, what would you do? Surrender?

Curious minds want to know.

Thanks,

Jax.

[QUOTE=Jackson;440830]RB, that's ridiculous.

I don't believe anyone has suggested that the Palestinians "[I]give up idolatry and accept Jesus Christ as their personal savior.[/I]", but perhaps you might post a link quoting the source of this statement.

In the mean time, do you have a problem understanding that the Palestinians have been firing rockets from the Gaza strip into populated neighborhoods of Israeli?

How do you justify that?

If you were Israeli, what would you do? Surrender?

Curious minds want to know.

Thanks,

Jax.[/QUOTE]I suggested it. I wasn't quoting anyone.

Ah, the Israel-Palestine question. Ain't going to go there, Jackson. I can only deal with objective facts and logical reasoning and when you are dealing with the Israel Palestine problem, facts and reason have no place.

[QUOTE=Jackson;440830]RB, that's ridiculous.

I don't believe anyone has suggested that the Palestinians "[I]give up idolatry and accept Jesus Christ as their personal savior.[/I]", but perhaps you might post a link quoting the source of this statement.

In the mean time, do you have a problem understanding that the Palestinians have been firing rockets from the Gaza strip into populated neighborhoods of Israeli?

How do you justify that?

If you were Israeli, what would you do? Surrender?

Curious minds want to know.

Thanks,

Jax.[/QUOTE]And they reply, you took our land, and you kick us out. And on, and on, and on, it goes. In the end, it's the problem of not wanting to share, like everything else in life.

By the way, what is the latest on the Hatfields and the McCoys? Have not heard too much lately. They all can/t be dead? New generation, new thinking?

Written 25 years ago, it is a spy novel but it has good insight about American, Israelis, and Palestinian relationships. To paraphrase a key concluding paragraph: Israelis are like the wife and Arabs are like the mistress. Americans always return to the wife.

The novel supposedly is base on the life of Robert Ames who is the subject of recently published biography.

[URL]http://www.amazon.com/Agents-Innocence-Novel-David-Ignatius/dp/0393317382/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1407803812&sr=1-1&keywords=agents[/URL]+of+innocence.

[URL]http://www.amazon.com/Good-Spy-Life-Death-Robert/dp/0307889750/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1407803846&sr=1-1&keywords=the[/URL]+good+spy+the+life+and+death+of+robert+ames.

[QUOTE=BigBossMan;440834]Written 25 years ago, it is a spy novel but it has good insight about American, Israelis, and Palestinian relationships. To paraphrase a key concluding paragraph: Israelis are like the wife and Arabs are like the mistress. Americans always return to the wife.

The novel supposedly is base on the life of Robert Ames who is the subject of recently published biography.

[URL]http://www.amazon.com/Agents-Innocence-Novel-David-Ignatius/dp/0393317382/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1407803812&sr=1-1&keywords=agents[/URL]+of+innocence.

[URL]http://www.amazon.com/Good-Spy-Life-Death-Robert/dp/0307889750/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1407803846&sr=1-1&keywords=the[/URL]+good+spy+the+life+and+death+of+robert+ames.[/QUOTE]For up to date perspective & policies on the Middle East, David Ignatius writes almost daily for the Washington Post. I believe he was their Middle East Bureau Chief for a long time. Agents of Innocence was one of his first novel, he has had several more exciting novels, all of them of Middle East based.

[URL]http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/dana-milbank-americans-optimism-is-dying/2014/08/12/f81808d8-224c-11e4-8593-da634b334390_story.html?hpid=z2[/URL]

Well, what do you know. In 1967, I left Singapore for the United States for further studies. The future of Singapore was definitely uncertain. This October, my grand-nephew will be coming to Bangkok from the US to look for a job. He has a BA and has been scrambling for the last 5/6 years. Change and more changes a-coming.

I have expressed the opinion in this thread that Presidents don't matter much to the economy. Out comes research that supports my opinion. One of the authors is Mark Watson who was a grad student teaching assistant where I went to college. I spent many hours in his office before midterms and finals learning statistics.

[URL]http://www.realclearmarkets.com/articles/2014/08/25/do_dems_run_the_economy_better_nope_101241.html[/URL]

Samuelson obviously disagrees with Watson's and Binders's conclusion.

The argument that Presidents do matter to the economy reminds me of the "great man" theory of history. I am more an adherent of each person taking individual action which, if enough of them head in the same direction, creates history. Leaders need to individuals to make a choice to follow.

The greatest book on this subject in my ken is not academic but fiction. "War and Peace" by Tolstoy. Of course you need a whole summer to read it and who has that much time.

[URL]http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/09/opinion/joe-nocera-inversion-delusion.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=c-column-top-span-region&region=c-column-top-span-region&WT.nav=c-column-top-span-region&_r=0[/URL]

Read it and take it with some alka-seltzer.

On a smaller scale, I was trying to book a hotel room in Sydney on Expedia. Because I had also purchased a flight from them, they were offering me special hotel prices for the same dates. But I had only 7 days to take advantage of the offer.

Guess what? After 7 days, prices for the same hotels were offered at lower rates for the same dates to any Tom, Dick, and Osama.