Wednesday February 15, 2012

SuperLib's past comments

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    SuperLib

    I've read the indictment. Pretty graphic stuff from a variety of witnesses.

    Posted in: Penn State football coach says horseplay not sexual

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    SuperLib

    I'm seeing 160 anti-Muslim crimes out of a total 6,628 hate crimes? I can't imagine JT would use such a small percentage for the headline. Unless they are whores.

    Posted in: Anti-Muslim 'hate crimes' up 50% in U.S., reports FBI

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    SuperLib

    Will anyone be blaming the government's policies for creating such a man?

    Posted in: Norway killer claims mantle of resistance leader

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    SuperLib

    Allan Jeffries: How many foreign nations have military bases in the US?

    For the need to project power into Canada and Mexico?

    No country willingly allows foreign military bases on their soil.

    If you said that every country would prefer to be in a position where they could live in a world where a US base doesn't help them, then I'd agree. But saying that all the bases are put there with force and coercion and done against the host country's will is absurd. The US and Australia have a very long history of cooperation, easily one of the strongest alliances in the world today. Unless you have specific evidence that their arm is being twisted I don't see why you won't entertain the thought that the Aussies see benefit from the base and they want it there.

    Posted in: U.S. Marines to be based in Darwin

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    SuperLib

    TheQuestion: There isn't even an excuse to be uninformed anymore. You can get used textbooks online for almost nothing, there are thousands of database sites and financial tracking services to help you invest, and people still elect to sacrifice control over their accounts.

    Some people just aren't interested in being a financial experts. Their funds are handled by people who are supposed to be the financial experts and a lot of people are satisfied with that. If you track your own investments and choose everything carefully it's because that's a hobby for you and you've chosen to spend time doing it. I don't think someone is irresponsible by handing their funds over to a manager that they've done their homework on.

    What worries me is a financial system based on speculation instead of fundamentals.

    Posted in: Occupy protests under pressure after 4 deaths

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    SuperLib

    Wolfpack: The actions of individual borrowers and banks were a direct result of the loosening of regulations on the part of the government. The government gave it's blessing and subsidiy via Fannie and Freddie. Ironically, it is the Democrats that pushed for loosening lending rules while Republicans warned against it. The governments loosening of lending rules - cause - led to excesses that followed - effect. The goal of promoting home ownership is laudable but not at the expense of throwing out common sense risk management. It is amazing how common sense can be overwhelmed when placed up against Rep. Franks incessant charges of discrimination and racism. No one wants to be called a racist so it is difficult for politicians to make the case that it is not racism, but simply good business sense and in the interest of all not to promote risky business practices.

    I'm still not buying the argument that you can exclude everyone from blame but the government. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac can set the tone with their lending requirements but at the end of the day they only secure half the loans and they don't make people sign on the dotted line. People and banks are still responsible for making sound financial decisions. You also have risky financial instruments like derivatives as well as unsecured debt which skyrocketed. No one forced AIG to only take one position. Just about everyone was working under the assumption that housing prices would continue to rise indefinitely.

    In your previous comment you said that the recovery was over-regulated. Are you saying we went from a period of too few regulations to too many?

    Posted in: Occupy protests under pressure after 4 deaths

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    SuperLib

    And in FUTURE NEWS, "Benoit “Ben” Lecomte" is dead.

    Posted in: Frenchman to swim from Tokyo to San Francisco

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    SuperLib

    Maybe they don't mind going after an Iranian ally.

    Posted in: Arab League votes to suspend Syria over killings

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    SuperLib

    Wolfpack: Is is because of the government's constant attempts at micromanage the economy with poorly considered regulations and convoluted and corrupt tax policy that has caused unemployment to be so high and prevented businesses from hiring. Government allows the financial markets to be manipulated by mandating that Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae make bad home loans.

    You are mixing and matching here. The blame for the crash can be spread around to a lot of different places. If you choose to focus on the government it's most likely because you want to criticize the government. The problem, in my opinion, was that the concept of risk went out the window. People made so much for so long that they simply believed they could not lose. Investments (especially real estate portfolios) kept hitting home runs and things that seemed risky before no longer seemed risky and it turned into a process of simply filling out forms. The borrowers are to blame for getting themselves into the situation, the banks are to blame for simply wanting to collect fees and pass off loans, the investment banks are to blame for the same reason, and the government is to blame for relaxing standards on lending. Everyone had their hand in the pot.

    TheQuestion: I have stated, from day one, that some of their concerns are legitimate and that I disagreed with both their method and their solutions.

    I can agree with that. It's hard to support a movement when even they don't know what the message is. But I think over time they will be able to deliver a clearer message. What concerns me is the ability for people to manipulate markets since they are able to create very large pools of capital and move quickly. They don't mind putting people out of work if it means their personal investment strategy profits. In the end it forces everyone to be financial wizards or be at the mercy of the large funds who can wipe out wealth overnight. Some people just want to be teachers, construction workers, engineers, etc. Having their future financial stability resting on the backs of a very small group of people who are not invested in their investments scares me. It seems that getting an education, getting a job, paying your taxes, and keeping your debt down doesn't amount to what it used to when others can cause so much harm so quickly.

    Posted in: Occupy protests under pressure after 4 deaths

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    SuperLib

    Faceless1: American foreign policy: Send troops and weapons to our allies, rain bombs on our enemies or otherwise threaten to, no one is neutral, you are either with us or against us, grunt, grunt. Enemies= those who have oil but won't let us send our companies in to tap it. Allies=the enemy of our enemy This applies slightly more to Republicans than Democrats, slightly. Class dismissed.

    No need to be flippant.

    Posted in: Republicans turn to foreign policy in debate

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    SuperLib

    We both know that putting strategic military decision-making up for popular vote is absurd. Your personal opposition to any one action doesn't change that.

    Posted in: U.S. Marines to be based in Darwin

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    SuperLib

    Faceless1: How does your guess compare to an acutal vote?

    Well then I guess Australia isn't a democracy. Let me get you a tissue.

    Posted in: U.S. Marines to be based in Darwin

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    SuperLib

    Johannes....

    I don't think an Iranian nuke would be for export. I think they would give Hamas more powerful conventional weapons and use the nuke as a shield from an Israeli strike. Iran is operating with the thought right now that anything too big would prompt an Israeli response. Without that safeguard Iran would be free to step up conventional attacks through their proxies. I thought Hamas' financing and most of their more sophisticated weapons come from Iran, not Egypt. Egypt has absolutely no love for Hamas and absolutely no reason to want to see open warfare break out on it's border, no matter how much they hate Israel. They're also dealing with Iran meddling in their internal affairs which they detest. Expect that to increase as well if Iran goes nuclear.

    I hope I'm wrong. I don't think a military strike would work on Iran anyway so I'm not advocating that. Time will tell. One of the big game changers will be Russia who will not want to live with a nuclear armed Iran as a close neighbor. Their stance on Iran will change overnight.

    Posted in: Iran's top leader warns U.S., Israel against strike

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    SuperLib

    And more...

    sharpie: there is NO imminent threat of attack by Iran on anyone.

    Iran attacks on a near daily basis. They don't send warplanes to bomb targets, instead they choose to work through proxies. Where do you think Hamas and the militants get their missiles from? Do you think they are manufacturing them themselves? No, they come from Iran. Attacks that target and kill innocents in Iraq, they are financed and supplied by Iran. The same goes with Hezbollah but to a lesser extent since Syria plays a larger role. You're right in that Iran hasn't launched 10,000 missiles into Israel over the past decade, they just give them to Hamas so they can do it for them. And if Iran gets the nukes it's pretty much guaranteed that more missiles will be flying. More powerful ones as well. Again your hyper-focus on the US and Israel completely ignores the other Arab leaders who would love nothing more then to stop Iran from going nuclear. This isn't some "US propaganda machine" tricking Arabs into hating Iran. They have plenty of reasons with or without the US.

    Posted in: Iran's top leader warns U.S., Israel against strike

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    SuperLib

    sharpie: SuperLib, sorry if I struck a chord with my words about Israeli, but mostly American tactics of propaganda which were in fact not prepared, but thought up during my morning coffee.

    What I take exception to is people framing this as if it's the US and Israel going up against Iran. It's not. It's pretty much every country on earth with the exception of a few including North Korea and Syria. That's to say that the same countries who did not support the US on Iraq are completely in line with the US on Iran. That should tell you something. Like I said, if you don't want to believe the US then don't. Believe everyone else, especially the ones who obviously agreed with you about faulty US intelligence on Iraq.

    Posted in: Iran's top leader warns U.S., Israel against strike

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    SuperLib

    just-a-guy: In the history of 235years of the US armed force....there was never a defeat and humilation like the US marines running away from North Korea under the attack of Chinese army! It was a sad news to know that humilation still haunting them and until now! They were still staying away as far as possible from Chinese missiles can reach,a wise move to choose Darwin for their base, although it was a symbolic presents in pacific. I think the Chinese military high command shall not using their valuable ICBM to netutralize them because doesnt worth it!

    The say that the Chinese government promotes blind patriotism as a way to distract their people from thinking about the government's refusal to allow political dissent. I have to say that when I read just-a-guy's posts it's hard to imagine that theory to be incorrect.

    Posted in: U.S. Marines to be based in Darwin

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    SuperLib

    I think a more appropriate headline would read "Mafia bosses reject 'James Murdoch' comparison."

    Posted in: James Murdoch rejects 'mafia boss' comparison

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    SuperLib

    PussInBoots: So you believe every country with an American base wants that base? Are you under the impression that the Australian people were polled on this question? Or do you consider the few people in government who made the decision to "be the country"?

    I think the countries that host US forces do so because they are getting something out of it, yes. Sometimes it's political consideration, sometimes it's economic, and sometimes it's defensive. The US left the Philippines when told to do so. We aren't staying in Iraq because an agreement couldn't be reached. Cuba would be the obvious exception because of a leasehold. My guess is that Australia falls into the group of nations who have a base because they think it is in their best interests to have one, and if they didn't there would be no base. Do you feel differently?

    May I ask how many times you've voted on a base decision in your life? Things like that aren't put up to a vote.

    At this time, China is having talks with other countries' governments about setting up foreign bases.

    And when it happens I look forward to reading your protest.

    I specifically suggested palms were greased. I also suggested the people were pimped with needless fear. And now I tell you the people, the ones I consider to actually be the country, were simply not asked.

    So what you're saying is that you assumed the people were pimped with fear, then changed your assumption when you realized they weren't asked. That's to say you had no evidence of it at all either way. I think you're letting your imagination run wild with this one. If Australia didn't think a base would be good for them (for whatever reason), then there would be no base.

    Posted in: U.S. Marines to be based in Darwin

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    SuperLib

    PussInBoots: How many bases does China have in other countries at this point in time? Look it up.

    Probably about the same as the number of countries who want Chinese bases on their soil.

    Now, why is everyone so chicken turd scared of China?

    You speak as if the US is somehow twisting Australia's arm and forcing them to accept a base. Both countries decided they wanted the troops there. Get over it.

    Posted in: U.S. Marines to be based in Darwin

  • -1

    SuperLib

    Looks like Australia is having some reservations about China.

    Posted in: U.S. Marines to be based in Darwin

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