Obama

[Section_31]

What? Carter is a fucking joke and Obama won't be around longer than 4 years. Promised a bunch of shit that he can't deliver on, and most of what he promised is not wanted by Americans (nationalizing health care)....anymore at least.

 

I've never seen or read anything from him about nationalised healthcare, ever, he wanted affordable healthcare for the poor. He doesn't want people dying in the street basically, you know, that civilisation stuff.

 

 

If people want to see a microcosm of what America is all about, they should just pass through customs at any US airport. Eveybody shouts at you, but nobody actually looks in your bag.

[Mustangt125]

I don't know whether or not he has actually said the words "nationalising" but that is what happens every single time the government throws their hat in the private sector. Nobody can compete with them.

 

Nationalising health care will make going to the doctor like going to the DMV. Cannot ever let that happen.

[Unrighteous]

His hands are tied though aren't they? He tries to engage with the Middle East and the people at home call him weak, he tries to change healthcare and people call him Hitler - yes, Hitler - that well known communist.

 

His hands are tied by the myriad of vested interest groups, dynastic entrenched wealth and power, a right wing media, and the legalised corruption of a lobying system.

 

America is in deep denial about itself, its infrastructure is poor and its social problems run deep, it is effectively eating itself to death while the rich continue to steal a living and shine the light of blame at others.

 

Any country which even considers someone like Sarah Palin as a potential leader is - quite frankly - fucked, and it probably deserves to be.

 

Go on Google image search and type in 'Shanghai skyline at night' followed by 'Detroit urban farming' and you will be left in no doubt that a day of reckoning is coming, and not even Hacksaw Jim Duggan can change that fact.

 

I agree, S31. However, this is nothing new, and Obama should have understood that.

 

I don't see how the political climate excuses the incompetence.

[Wee-bey]

I don't know whether or not he has actually said the words "nationalising" but that is what happens every single time the government throws their hat in the private sector. Nobody can compete with them.

 

Nationalising health care will make going to the doctor like going to the DMV. Cannot ever let that happen.

 

Nationalised health care is awesome, by the way. The NHS is by far the best thing about this country.

 

Obama didn't want nationalised healthcare, he wanted affordable insurance for all.

[Guest ShoePiss]

Saw airforce 1 come in to PDX yesterday, pretty cool. It wasn't cool that Obama arrived at rush hour and had all the roads closed to get him to the convention centre, he should have taken the max lightrail train!

[Stu Monty]

I don't know whether or not he has actually said the words "nationalising" but that is what happens every single time the government throws their hat in the private sector. Nobody can compete with them.

 

Nationalising health care will make going to the doctor like going to the DMV. Cannot ever let that happen.

 

The NHS is one of the greatest ideas ever implemented in this country.

 

If someone gets hit by a car it shouldn't bankrupt them and the emergency services should be trying to save their life, not rifle through their wallet. Privatised health shows the true sickness of capitalism.

[Section_31]

I don't think nationalised healthcare is feasible for a country the size of the USA anyway to be honest, it's just so fucking big, and the way it's structured would surely cause problems - how would people in certain states feel about the way other states' citizens were perhaps able to access medication that they weren't etc?

 

When you consider that the NHS has the third biggest workforce in the world after the Chinese army and Indian railway for a country of just 60m, you can see what an epic undertaking it would be.

 

That being said, there are ways of making it much fairer, subsidising the cost for poor people, and ensuring doctors are not basically bullied and beholden to the all-powerful insurance companies.

[ngogswilly]

I'm no expert on America at all, but it seems to my uneducated self that its a country where the rich have the politicians in their pockets and thus everyone who is not rich is basically fucked up the ass on a daily basis.

[Stu Monty]

I'm no expert on America at all, but it seems to my uneducated self that its a country where the rich have the politicians in their pockets and thus everyone who is not rich is basically fucked up the ass on a daily basis.

 

Thank the heavens we don't have to live with that sort of problem.

 

Signed,

 

Stu Monty

Vodafone CEO

[dennis tooth]

U.S. China Currency War Drifting towards Military Conflict

 

The United States conducts monetary policy the same way it conducts foreign policy; unilaterally. When Fed chairman Ben Bernanke signaled last week that he was planning to restart his bond purchasing program (Quantitative Easing) he didn't consult with allies at the IMF, the G-20 or the WTO. He simply issued his edict, and that was that. The fact that the Fed's policy will flood emerging markets with cheap capital, pushing up the value of their currencies and igniting inflation, is of no concern to Bernanke. He operates on the same theory as former Treasury Secretary John Connally who breezily quipped to a group of euro finance ministers, “The dollar is our currency, but your problem.

 

Bernanke's 15 report could have been reduced to nine words: Inflation is too low and unemployment is too high. That said, Bernanke is not going to sit back hemming and hawing until congress figures out that the economy needs more support. He's going to put downward pressure on the dollar until inflation rises to the target 2%, increasing the prospects for lower unemployment, a narrowing of the current account deficit, and a faster rebound. Economist Edward Hugh sums it up like this:

 

“Unemployment in the United States (which is currently at 9.6%, and may reach 10% by the end of the year) is causing enormous problems for the Obama administration. The US labor market and welfare system are simply not designed to run with these levels of unemployment for any length of time. In Japan the unemployment rate is 5.1%, and in Germany it is under 8%. So people in Washington, not unreasonably ask themselves why the US should shoulder so much extra unemployment and run a current account deficit just to maintain the Bretton Woods system and the reserve currency status of the US Dollar.

 

My feeling is that the US administration has decided to reduce the unemployment rate, and close the current account deficit, and that the only way to achieve this is to force the value of the dollar down. That way it will be US factories rather than German or Japanese ones that are humming to the sound of the new orders which come in from all that flourishing emerging market demand.”

 

Bernanke has drawn the same conclusions as Hugh, but that doesn't mean his strategy won't inflict considerable damage on US allies. It will. His beggar-thy-neighbor QE program will force trading partners to implement capital controls and other protectionist measures to maintain price stability. QE will also lead to more competitive devaluation as the world's largest economies fight for a bigger share of the export market. The impending clash could bring about the dissolution of the present trade regime and a sharp reversal of 30-years of globalization.

 

Bernanke's biggest problem is China. China was America's darling when it was loading up on Treasuries and fueling a historic consumption binge that filled Wall Street's coffers. But now that the purchase of US debt is preventing the Fed from implementing its monetary policy, Bernanke wants a change. Unfortunately, China is not cooperating. It's piling up foreign exchange reserves at record pace to maintain the dollar peg which is widening the current account deficit to precrisis levels. The yawning trade imbalance is pushing the world towards another crisis, which is why Bernanke and Co. are determined to persuade China to let its currency to appreciate to narrow the gap. (China's foreign exchange reserves surged to $2.65tr in the 3rd quarter)

 

Bottom line: The Fed cannot jump-start the domestic economy if the trade deficit continues to grow. It's impossible. The stimulus just gets flushed down the plughole. China is soaking up the lion's share of global demand by underbidding the US on everything under the sun. That's the real effect of the dollar peg, it gives China an unfair advantage over its competitors. A free-floating currency helps to level the playing field (even if US labor is competing with some of the world's worst paid workers) Bernanke's announcement last Friday, is just the first shot fired over Beijing's bow. There will be more to come. This weekend's meeting of the G-20 provides Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner with the perfect opportunity to put the spotlight on China and to rail against currency manipulation. Many expect him to make a strong statement demanding changes to the policy.

 

An update by Reuters on Wednesday confirms the US position. Here's a blurp:

 

“The United States wants Group of 20 finance chiefs to commit to allowing market forces to set currency values and will discuss using targets for trade to measure progress, a senior U.S. Treasury Department official said on Wednesday.

 

Ahead of weekend G20 meetings in Gyeongju, South Korea, the U.S. official made clear Washington wants currency levels to be a focal point of the meetings and sees current account surpluses and deficits a vital part of the discussion....

 

From our perspective we believe these issues are fundamentally, inherently linked and that it is important for the G20 to be able to undertake cooperative action facilitating orderly adjustment of imbalances and also ensuring more effective adjustment of exchange rates in line with economic fundamentals," the official said.” (“U.S. wants G20 commitment to allow currency rises”, Reuters)

 

Neither the Obama administration nor the Fed want a full-blown trade war with China. They'd rather see China “assume its position in the global system”. (as US diplomats aver) But that means that China will have to compromise on, what it considers to be, a matter of national sovereignty. And, there's the rub. China is a proud nation and doesn't want to be told what to do. But that's not how the system works. Behind the facade of free markets and international institutions, lies an imperial system ruled from Washington. That leaves Beijing with two options; they can either bow to US pressure and fall in line or shrug off Washington's demands and continue on the same path. If they choose to resist, relations with the US will grow more acrimonious and the probability of conflict will rise.

 

By Mike Whitney

[dennis tooth]

YouTube - AlJazeeraEnglish's Channel

[Kevin D]

Not with presidents such as Andrew Johnson, Calvin Coolidge, Ulysses S Grant, James Buchanan and Warren Harding cluttering up that area of US history.

 

Probably be easier to name the good ones. Lincoln and Bartlett are all I've been able to come up with.

[Yozzer]

That Obama, he pisses me off!

 

South Park Studios UK and Ireland - That Pisses Me Off

[James]

[Section_31]

Republicans have now gained control of both houses and are expected to spend the next two years of his presidency blocking his policies. What a crackers country.

[ZonkoVille77]

Republicans have now gained control of both houses and are expected to spend the next two years of his presidency blocking his policies. What a crackers country.

Americans have done some great things for the world no doubt. But they are overall a curse on the planet and won't be happy until they control everyone and everything. Only then will they look inwards.

 

We are lucky to be alive judging by this article.

 

http://www.salon.com/2014/08/05/noam_chomsky_how_the_bin_laden_raid_could_have_led_to_nuclear_annihilation_partner

[Section_31]

I think a Republican president is nailed on, look forward to seeing how they handle Isis and a resurgent Russia. Could be time to invest in that factor ten million Soltan they've got on promotion in Boots.

 

I know you can't generalise, but it's telling that Republicans are always thick as shit. Put Obama, Clinton and FDR in a pub quiz against the two Bushes and Reagan and it'd be a whitewash to be sure. That's because Republicans tend to be just the frontman for something else.

[Cardie]

I think a Republican president is nailed on, look forward to seeing how they handle Isis and a resurgent Russia.

They'll be all

 

Pew pew, 'merica bitch, pew pew pew. And there'll be 'splosions and they'll throw the homos at Isis hoping they'll catch it and be too busy looking at cushions to behead people.

 

Lynchings, don't forget lynchings, Ferguson better watch it's back because that towns getting nuked

 

 

 

 

[Jairzinho]

I think a Republican president is nailed on, look forward to seeing how they handle Isis and a resurgent Russia. Could be time to invest in that factor ten million Soltan they've got on promotion in Boots.

 

I know you can't generalise, but it's telling that Republicans are always thick as shit. Put Obama, Clinton and FDR in a pub quiz against the two Bushes and Reagan and it'd be a whitewash to be sure. That's because Republicans tend to be just the frontman for something else.

 

To be fair, Obama is the front man for something else, well, the same something really. About five companies.

[Jairzinho]

In other news, and this seems as good a place as any to put the story -

 

http://www.local10.com/news/police-charge-90yearold-man-2-pastors-with-feeding-the-homeless/29510268

 

 

Police charge 90-year-old man, 2 pastors with feeding homeless

 

Arnold Abbott says he intends to take Fort Lauderdale to court

 

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -

Fort Lauderdale police charged three men -- including two pastors and a 90-year-old man -- for feeding the homeless in public on Sunday, the first such cases made by the city after the a new ordinance effectively banning public food sharings took effect Friday.

 

The first to be charged was homeless advocate Arnold Abbott, 90, who has been feeding the homeless in Fort Lauderdale for more than 20 years. Also cited were two Christian ministers -- Dwayne Black, pastor of The Sanctuary Church in Fort Lauderdale, and Mark Sims of St. Mary Magdalene Episcopal Church in Coral Springs.

 

All three men face up to 60 days in jail and a $500 fine.

 

"One of the police officers said, 'Drop that plate right now,' as if I were carrying a weapon," said Abbott, who runs a nonprofit group called Love Thy Neighbor, Inc. "It's man's inhumanity to man is all it is."

 

In 1999, the city tried to stop Abbott from feeding the homeless on Fort Lauderdale Beach, prompting a lawsuit from Abbott, which he won. Now he said he will fight the municipal ordinance charge and be forced to take the city back to court.

 

"I’m going to have to go to court again and sue the city of Fort Lauderdale -- a beautiful city," said Abbott. "These are the poorest of the poor, they have nothing, they don't have a roof over their heads. How do you turn them away?"

 

Abbott said he won't turn them away and is planning to bring food to the beach this Wednesday evening with the expectation that he may be hit with another charge.

 

"I don't do things to purposefully aggravate the situation," said Abbott. "I'm trying to work with the city. Any human has the right to help his fellow man."

[Lee909]

Fuck sake

How exactly is that a bloody crime

[Lee909]

I think a Republican president is nailed on, look forward to seeing how they handle Isis and a resurgent Russia. Could be time to invest in that factor ten million Soltan they've got on promotion in Boots.

 

I know you can't generalise, but it's telling that Republicans are always thick as shit. Put Obama, Clinton and FDR in a pub quiz against the two Bushes and Reagan and it'd be a whitewash to be sure. That's because Republicans tend to be just the frontman for something else.

 

The correct answer toevery question in the South would be God  so im sure they would do ok

[Ranxerox]

he's a bit pooh isn't he

[Bobby Hundreds]

we are well on our way to some kind of corprate fascist future, where democracy is dead and all decisions are made in a boardroom for the benefit of those in the boardroom at the expense of everybody else.

[ZonkoVille77]

we are well on our way to some kind of corprate fascist future, where democracy is dead and all decisions are made in a boardroom for the benefit of those in the boardroom at the expense of everybody else.

Yes. or no future for the northern hemisphere and the Middle East after those gung ho idiots nuke their 'enemies'