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<blockquote data-quote="John Roberts" data-source="post: 51610" data-attributes="member: 126"><p>Re: The Facebook guy</p><p></p><p></p><p>One reason political discussion get out of hand is because people are so quick to get personal and speculate about what other people think. This is extremely difficult to know even when people tell you. </p><p></p><p>For the record I said in a footnote that I did not know why the 1700 people left, while the increase in number of people leaving seems like a hard fact.</p><p></p><p>Mr. Savern say's it isn't about the Benjamin's, and he is doing social media research in Singapore, but the timing of the renouncement seems like good tax planning to be kind. Another speculation is that he doesn't want to be constantly compared and in live in the shadow of Zukenberg , like Paul Allen who is constantly compared to Bill Gates, not other less successful peers. Living in Singapore may offer some relief from that. </p><p></p><p>Indeed, the clamp down in security since 9/11 has disproportionately slowed "good" immigration, while having little impact on illegal immigration thanks to our porous borders. </p><p></p><p>Another economic trend that has reduced our brain power magnet, where we used to get the world's brightest minds here to attend university, then the cream of that crop would settle here for the business opportunity, is that the massive economic growth in countries like China and India has made it possible for these best and brightest minds, to find gainful employment in bangalore or quangdong. </p><p></p><p>Our immigration situation is a train wreck and it has been since the last time congress "fixed" it. In classic fashion, they wrote their laws, but then didn't follow up with the funding to prosecute those laws, so we ended up with with the massive illegal immigration who respond to what our government does, not what it says. About the only thing that has stemmed the tide of illegal immigration is the weak economy, and I doubt the administration wants to take credit for that. </p><p></p><p>Neither party has been willing to openly discuss and deal with the current immigration situation as they both position themselves for political benefit WRT the hispanic voting block, expected to get larger with the next amnesty. Typical spineless politics as usual. </p><p></p><p>First things first, we don't rank well in lower education. You can't excel in higher education when you don't educate the kids with the basics. Now there is new push back against standardized testing. Arguing that the testing is somehow making it more difficult to teach, or creating children programmed to pass tests, Huh? life is a test... and if we don't prepare children with a sound education they will fail the larger test. Teachers need to get their performance measured, just like any other human endeavor, how can you know if you are making progress if you don't measure the result? </p><p></p><p>Higher education is being affected by another trend. The political class tries to manipulate the world around them by managing superficial appearances that correlate with some desired result, not the underlying reality that resists easy manipulation. Just like politicians thought they were helping poor people by putting them in homes they couldn't afford, they expect college graduates make more money, so they took over the college loan business and make it way too easy to get college loans. As simple economics would predict, if there is more money chasing the same commodity, the price of that commodity will go up. A secondary effect, is that entrance requirements and difficulty of curriculum have dropped to match this new expanded crop of students. </p><p></p><p>So not only is this college loan program another pile of debt we taxpayers will probably end up swallowing (OK if it actually did some good), but we haven't really helped these new college graduates. One telling anecdote was from a young college graduate protesting at one of the Occupy camps because he couldn't find a decent job. When asked what his degree was in, he replied "comparative religion". Hard to imagine that specialty is not a ticket to fat paychecks. :-( (again congress playing checkers in a world that is playing chess). </p><p></p><p>I don't doubt that the politicians are trying to help, but they don't realize that they have a reverse midas touch, where everything they touch turns to lead (while i was thinking of something more scatalogical). They could do more good by not helping so much. Priming the pump doesn't change the amount of water in the well, only short term function of the pump... (This relationship is lost on the advocates of more stimulus. We need to look at the well not the pump). </p><p></p><p>What is obvious to one political persuasion, is not so obvious to the other. Lets just say opinions vary </p><p></p><p>This coming election will be a report card for the last 4 years. "Bush ate my homework" will not play this time around. It didn't work in 2010, no matter how much they promote that theme. Middle America may not be too smart for that argument, they just aren't that patient (IMO). </p><p></p><p>As I have already said elsewhere, both parties are full of sh__ when they claim they have some plan that can create jobs. All government can do is bleed the economy like a leech. We don't need more leechs, we need to leave the patient alone so "we" can recover our depleted health from all the bleeding. </p><p></p><p>This sounds more like a partisan talking point than credible analysis. If you really feel for women's rights we shouldn't be negotiating for coexistence with the Taliban in Afghanistan. Just this week there are new reports of closing schools in Afghanistan due to bomb threats from the taliban, who are not fans of secular education or women's rights. </p><p></p><p>I find this divide to conquer political campaign pretty transparent; "men against women", "straights against gay", "rich against poor", don't forget "white against black", or this new category "hispanic-white against black (?)". This is not only transparent but seems a little desperate, and this is the great unifier, who was going to practice a new kind of politics and bring us all together? </p><p></p><p>Now that is a bit of a stretch, but since you bring up Iran, they are once again playing us for fools by dangling the possibility of nuclear site inspections, while we seem unusually soft against the brutal Assad regime in Syria who is killing political protesters. Is there some secret quid pro quo where we don't want to irritate Iran over their surrogate in Syria? </p><p></p><p>The Latest round of economic sanctions seems to have brought Iran to the table, but they are playing us, just like North Korea did. The most painful part is that the sanctions mostly hurt the Iranian people who are not our enemies, it's the regime that is out of world favor. Iran has a well educated population that deserve better, while so do the Syrians and others in the region. </p><p></p><p>?? I worry about Mexico. I recall traveling down there on business some 10-15 years ago, a beautiful country and great people. Their economy is probably doing better than ours right now, even with the open drug gang warfare and lawlessness. Many mexicans who moved here did it for the economic opportunity. if that opportunity is no longer attractive it seems logical to move back home. </p><p></p><p>I doubt you are trying to make my point about the economy, so what exactly are you saying WRT nationalized mexicans? They are under appreciated? I appreciate them because they have higher birth/replacement rates than our aging population. We need the population growth for healthy economic growth. They are also not allergic to work, a problem too many US citizens suffer from. (I apologize for any stereo-types i am throwing around, they seem to fit.) </p><p> </p><p></p><p></p><p>My comment was meant to convey that I did not wish to enter into the dueling partisan talking points, we see on cable TV and these days even posing as news. I am always open for a thoughtful discussion of fact and honest analysis of history. I have been paying close attention to world events for a long time, so I am capable of forming my own opinions. For the record I didn't start this thread, while I am not shy about saying what I think. </p><p></p><p>I do not expect people to passively take my word for anything, but please do not allow yourself to be manipulated by the political machines from both sides that will be flinging several billion dollars worth of mud at us, trying to identify the one personal peeve to make each voter, vote against one or the other candidate. Please take one giant step backwards and look at the game they are playing to manipulate you to win your vote. Don't vote against either candidate based on one narrow, and probably unimportant, characteristic. Do try to look at the real track record of both (not the latest story fabricated by their detractors). Both now have an actual track record that can be reviewed. Don't let other people think for you. You are adults and capable of critical thought. Invest at least as much effort as you do researching mics or speakers, then vote.... </p><p></p><p>[/rant]</p><p></p><p>Jack: I don't think you mean to insult me, but you comments are not very flattering, nor do I think they are justified, while you are free to your opinions, and I am a big boy... </p><p></p><p>How about those Thunder... ? Can they get past San Antonio? I had a bad feeling about this season with the compressed games schedule, while injuries are always a factor in sports. </p><p></p><p>JR</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="John Roberts, post: 51610, member: 126"] Re: The Facebook guy One reason political discussion get out of hand is because people are so quick to get personal and speculate about what other people think. This is extremely difficult to know even when people tell you. For the record I said in a footnote that I did not know why the 1700 people left, while the increase in number of people leaving seems like a hard fact. Mr. Savern say's it isn't about the Benjamin's, and he is doing social media research in Singapore, but the timing of the renouncement seems like good tax planning to be kind. Another speculation is that he doesn't want to be constantly compared and in live in the shadow of Zukenberg , like Paul Allen who is constantly compared to Bill Gates, not other less successful peers. Living in Singapore may offer some relief from that. Indeed, the clamp down in security since 9/11 has disproportionately slowed "good" immigration, while having little impact on illegal immigration thanks to our porous borders. Another economic trend that has reduced our brain power magnet, where we used to get the world's brightest minds here to attend university, then the cream of that crop would settle here for the business opportunity, is that the massive economic growth in countries like China and India has made it possible for these best and brightest minds, to find gainful employment in bangalore or quangdong. Our immigration situation is a train wreck and it has been since the last time congress "fixed" it. In classic fashion, they wrote their laws, but then didn't follow up with the funding to prosecute those laws, so we ended up with with the massive illegal immigration who respond to what our government does, not what it says. About the only thing that has stemmed the tide of illegal immigration is the weak economy, and I doubt the administration wants to take credit for that. Neither party has been willing to openly discuss and deal with the current immigration situation as they both position themselves for political benefit WRT the hispanic voting block, expected to get larger with the next amnesty. Typical spineless politics as usual. First things first, we don't rank well in lower education. You can't excel in higher education when you don't educate the kids with the basics. Now there is new push back against standardized testing. Arguing that the testing is somehow making it more difficult to teach, or creating children programmed to pass tests, Huh? life is a test... and if we don't prepare children with a sound education they will fail the larger test. Teachers need to get their performance measured, just like any other human endeavor, how can you know if you are making progress if you don't measure the result? Higher education is being affected by another trend. The political class tries to manipulate the world around them by managing superficial appearances that correlate with some desired result, not the underlying reality that resists easy manipulation. Just like politicians thought they were helping poor people by putting them in homes they couldn't afford, they expect college graduates make more money, so they took over the college loan business and make it way too easy to get college loans. As simple economics would predict, if there is more money chasing the same commodity, the price of that commodity will go up. A secondary effect, is that entrance requirements and difficulty of curriculum have dropped to match this new expanded crop of students. So not only is this college loan program another pile of debt we taxpayers will probably end up swallowing (OK if it actually did some good), but we haven't really helped these new college graduates. One telling anecdote was from a young college graduate protesting at one of the Occupy camps because he couldn't find a decent job. When asked what his degree was in, he replied "comparative religion". Hard to imagine that specialty is not a ticket to fat paychecks. :-( (again congress playing checkers in a world that is playing chess). I don't doubt that the politicians are trying to help, but they don't realize that they have a reverse midas touch, where everything they touch turns to lead (while i was thinking of something more scatalogical). They could do more good by not helping so much. Priming the pump doesn't change the amount of water in the well, only short term function of the pump... (This relationship is lost on the advocates of more stimulus. We need to look at the well not the pump). What is obvious to one political persuasion, is not so obvious to the other. Lets just say opinions vary This coming election will be a report card for the last 4 years. "Bush ate my homework" will not play this time around. It didn't work in 2010, no matter how much they promote that theme. Middle America may not be too smart for that argument, they just aren't that patient (IMO). As I have already said elsewhere, both parties are full of sh__ when they claim they have some plan that can create jobs. All government can do is bleed the economy like a leech. We don't need more leechs, we need to leave the patient alone so "we" can recover our depleted health from all the bleeding. This sounds more like a partisan talking point than credible analysis. If you really feel for women's rights we shouldn't be negotiating for coexistence with the Taliban in Afghanistan. Just this week there are new reports of closing schools in Afghanistan due to bomb threats from the taliban, who are not fans of secular education or women's rights. I find this divide to conquer political campaign pretty transparent; "men against women", "straights against gay", "rich against poor", don't forget "white against black", or this new category "hispanic-white against black (?)". This is not only transparent but seems a little desperate, and this is the great unifier, who was going to practice a new kind of politics and bring us all together? Now that is a bit of a stretch, but since you bring up Iran, they are once again playing us for fools by dangling the possibility of nuclear site inspections, while we seem unusually soft against the brutal Assad regime in Syria who is killing political protesters. Is there some secret quid pro quo where we don't want to irritate Iran over their surrogate in Syria? The Latest round of economic sanctions seems to have brought Iran to the table, but they are playing us, just like North Korea did. The most painful part is that the sanctions mostly hurt the Iranian people who are not our enemies, it's the regime that is out of world favor. Iran has a well educated population that deserve better, while so do the Syrians and others in the region. ?? I worry about Mexico. I recall traveling down there on business some 10-15 years ago, a beautiful country and great people. Their economy is probably doing better than ours right now, even with the open drug gang warfare and lawlessness. Many mexicans who moved here did it for the economic opportunity. if that opportunity is no longer attractive it seems logical to move back home. I doubt you are trying to make my point about the economy, so what exactly are you saying WRT nationalized mexicans? They are under appreciated? I appreciate them because they have higher birth/replacement rates than our aging population. We need the population growth for healthy economic growth. They are also not allergic to work, a problem too many US citizens suffer from. (I apologize for any stereo-types i am throwing around, they seem to fit.) My comment was meant to convey that I did not wish to enter into the dueling partisan talking points, we see on cable TV and these days even posing as news. I am always open for a thoughtful discussion of fact and honest analysis of history. I have been paying close attention to world events for a long time, so I am capable of forming my own opinions. For the record I didn't start this thread, while I am not shy about saying what I think. I do not expect people to passively take my word for anything, but please do not allow yourself to be manipulated by the political machines from both sides that will be flinging several billion dollars worth of mud at us, trying to identify the one personal peeve to make each voter, vote against one or the other candidate. Please take one giant step backwards and look at the game they are playing to manipulate you to win your vote. Don't vote against either candidate based on one narrow, and probably unimportant, characteristic. Do try to look at the real track record of both (not the latest story fabricated by their detractors). Both now have an actual track record that can be reviewed. Don't let other people think for you. You are adults and capable of critical thought. Invest at least as much effort as you do researching mics or speakers, then vote.... [/rant] Jack: I don't think you mean to insult me, but you comments are not very flattering, nor do I think they are justified, while you are free to your opinions, and I am a big boy... How about those Thunder... ? Can they get past San Antonio? I had a bad feeling about this season with the compressed games schedule, while injuries are always a factor in sports. JR [/QUOTE]
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