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U5656350

Listed below are comments made by U5656350 between Monday, 3rd November 2008 and Wednesday, 4th November 2009.

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Waiting for deliverance 08:01am on 04 Nov 2009 A reaction to the administration in power is no surprise at all. It always happens.

What is suroprising is this: Obama never hid the fact that recovery would be long and difficult. Besides the bluster from the far right in America -- which has stepped off the rhetorical boat of reason -- and a host of other problems, he also faces an endemic need in the US for immediate solutions, for instant gratification. To blame him for a slow recovery is absurd, but no one, not even the MSM is willing to really say it for fear of being lambasted as a "Liberal".

One cannot fault the GOP for their strategy: It is diversion, diversion, diversion. Never let the democrats remind Americans who it was who actually got this whole mess going. It would be really great to remember that even when the economy recovers, companies are not rehiring.... because their fundamental aim is to dump as many people as possible. The government has a palliative function. It is the companies themselves that are outsourcing jobs, closing factories, firing workers and rehiring cheaper ones or having the remaining staff work double time with the existential fear of unemployment hanging over their heads like the sword of Damocles.

As for the young lady with her fear of equal health care.... well it's sort of tragic. I remember in 1984, after Reagan's voodoo economics had just crashed the economy and driven millions out of work, there were unemployed workers in Detroit who had lost everything and were eating catfood (I kid you not) still voting for Reagan, because they wanted a "strong America," whatever that meant. Meanwhile, the Great Communicator was selling manufacturing out lock, stock and barrel. And manufacturing is still the most sustainable sector of the economy. I'm not saying profitable. That goes to bankling and the like or becoming a monopoly and selling the world hinky software.

Have a nice day.
About Franz Strasser 10:59pm on 02 Nov 2009 I look forward to reading your blog. When the wall fell, I was 32, a journalist, and actually heading to Potsdam, which was a coincidence of sorts, since you had to apply ahead of time to travel to the GDR. I had been to East Germany several times, because of my in-laws who lived there.

But just as a reminder: The fall of the Berlin wall was spectacular, partly because of its symbolic value. But actually, much of the work was done by the Hungarians. They dismantled their border nearly three months before. Earlier, in June, Budapest's Heroes Square had seen two major events: the reburial of Imre Nagy, the somewhat accidental hero of the '56 uprising (he had been acquitted on June 6, the day Kádár died), and a second demo, which went largely unreported, against Romania's oppression of ethnic Hungarians.

That the Wall was crumbling was obvious, but editors were not interested. At least they responded, though. Today you can't get an answer at all....
Obama and Europe 5:32pm on 02 Nov 2009 I can't wait till this recession is over.... some people will get a job.
Obama and Europe 3:06pm on 02 Nov 2009 I would also like to ask all those people speaking of "Europe" what they really mean.

The European Union consists of 27 SOVEREIGN nations, and Switzerland is not included, of course. I know it's a little complicated to understand that concept, but that's how it is and diversity is healthy.
Obama and Europe 3:01pm on 02 Nov 2009 Europe-US relations are far better than they while the USA was being led by an incompetent, far-right ignoramus. Let us get that straight. As I see by the previous comments, some people like the plain idea of confrontation and they do this by uttering blanket statements that seem to signify that the previous administration only found sheep of its own kind to lead.

To Mikey above: Europeans understand federalism better than you might think. Germany is a federal state, Switzerland as well, Austria is quite federal.... some countries do have a problem with centralism, and that is historic (I note France).

About the wars: The USA has gotten itself involved in European wras, but since 1945, it has gotten itself involved in ots own wars without the help of Europe, so please go back to the history books In fact, the USA has been involved in continuous wars for well over a century, covert and overt.

The reason why the French did not get involved in the Iraq adventure is because it was a fake from the start, and most people with half a brain knew it. Alas, the MSM found a good way to raise its ratings, and thus this atrocity that has become a 6-year war was foisted upon the Iraqi people. Afghanistan was political capital for 9-11, and it too was an error, combatting terrorism is police work, not military, hence the quagmire in Afghanistan.

And lastly, Markus Aurelius, those old jingoist sentiments went out some time around 1919. If American businesses and soldiers want to trample around the planet and ignore local feelings, cultures, etc., they are going to have to face resistance. Obama is far better at understanding the need to respect peoples' space and culture.

What appears extraordinary to me is that with all the information available, one still finds comments of the most striking ignorance. It makes me really doubt the value of the Internet.
A case for healthcare reform? 2:12pm on 09 Sep 2009 I wonder out of what dark, damp cave some of these opponents of health-care reform retrieve their information. The US can easily afford some form of universal health care. The country spends around half a trillion dollars on toys for its military, and no one seems to complain. But that is part of the nation's general technophilia.

Such stories as that of this young woman are scandalous. But the rabid opponents of health care don't care either way. Look at those arguments.... As if doctors in Switzerland, the UK, Germany, France, Spain, Hungary, Poland, etc... lived in dormitories!! Who sold these people that piece of junk? How come people who can read and write buy it?

One reason I left my native country, the USA, was because of its medieval labor and insurance practices. And I WAS insured! Had one operation that was seriously botched (a simple hernia, of all things), and then another on the same day, was chased out of the hospital a day later while barely able to walk (the cut bled for three days): The insurance wouldn't pay more hospital days, and my employer was already looking for a replacement. I was re-operated in Munich, thank goodness, and the surgeon there told me point blank after the operation: "You were butchered." The operation in Germany cost me nothing, I spent 6 days in hospital and had magnificient care.

I was also appalled at the educational system, having taught as a TA at University. There were high-school kids who were barely literate. Worse, they were unable to collate two or three ideas and mix and match them. Their thinking moved along on the basis of simplistic syllogisms, usually based on some specious premises. The vociferous and mostly crackpot opposition to Obama's health care package proves me right.
The whale papers 2:21pm on 28 Jan 2009 glitternorms, you're right and wrong.... It's all a question of genuine measure. And whenever profits are involved, measure goes out the window. Same with oil, by the way, and energy in general. There is no real reason to kill thousands of whales.
And in general: We are sawing at the branch upon which we are sitting.
When you realise how much food supermarkets and restaurants and families chuck out in our western societies, you realise that our system has become obscene.
A history day? 12:50pm on 06 Nov 2008 Neal R 2000

Maybe you should read some to find out about Obama, who has been scrutinized for over 3 years now. He is very much his own man. It was neocons like Reagan and Bush the Lesser who were totally manufactured products.

Obama won because he is authentic.

The moment McCain opted to become "the base", every word from his mouth sounded fake.
A history day? 12:16pm on 06 Nov 2008 Yes, Gavin, a history day. We all know that the road will be steep, we all know that Obama has to hit the ground running, with the debris left by the wild money-spending, army-killing party held by the neocons, whose take-no-prisoners approach to decency defies any orgiastic scene from ancient Rome.

I believe Obama will at least try to make the best moves and the pressure is on to succeed. He will remain coolheaded, I am sure. I feel better with that hand on the wheel.

For the first time in my voting career, I am genuinely for someone and not as a better alternative. Obama is an inspiration, and ironically perhaps, he is the first president who is younger than I am and yet I feel understood. He is also the first one I think young people can look up to as an example of decency.

But this is all in addition to something else that we Caucasians cannot, perhaps, experience, even in our hearts, but not as viscerally. And it is good to just stand back for a moment and let Africvan Americans and Africans, too, just feel their pride. As a new-found African-American friend wrote me:
"Even though the days look gray, the sun is shining."

There is a time to talk and a time to be silent. I think, for a short while, we whites should choose the later.

Cheers.
Too 'European' 08:16am on 03 Nov 2008 Sometimes I wish Americans were a little more European and would engage in some critical viewing of their (our) country. Often, any critique is considered unpatriotic. I for one, refuse to be servile and timorous and I have never spared the criticism of my country regardless.

OldSouth's comment epitomizes this: Carter is considered per se a poor President.

I would like to point out that he actually had a better plan for a sustainable future than most presidents since. Perhaps if people would bother reading his state of the union address 1978, you will find that he was aiming to reduce the USA's dependence on foreign oil, etc... His view of human rights was also far more moral and sustainable than Reagan's. Had we stuck to those programs, as it were, we might have a ton of friends in the world and we might even have peace in the Middle East. Instead, we took the Ronald Reagan-neocon program for national disasters. Since Ronald "Happy Days" Reagan our dependency on foreign oil has grown and the world, which once respected us, either fears being bombed or can't stand us.

Perhaps the greatest long-term disaster is "Main Street"'s hatred of education, of "debate and discussion" about topics. Everything in the USA has become "quick fix." I mean people can hardly communicate in full sentences anymore, they cannot listen, either. So our world is one of LOL and ROFL and IMHO. And thus we short-fix ourselves into a mess and would then like the instant gratification of being out of the mess by the weekend, because TGIF.

A friend of mine in Switzerland saw Obama and Clinton together. He noticed something interesting: Obama was really listening to Clinton.

That, for him, was the best reason to vote for Obama. That may not be a European quality. It's a great quality. It's the sign of a compassionate individual. I think it is time to try that system rather than the "ignore'em or bomb'em" system... But our country likes Hollywood fixes, they like it, when after witnessing a horrid bloodbath, the hero and heroine hit the sack in ecstasy.

Go figure.

I say: if Obama wins, we may well gain a lot of global support, not a bad idea. Peace is cheaper than war. If McCain wins, I think we will become even more irrelevant as a nation (perhaps not a bad idea), since our economy will continue to be modelled along the lines of some ancient Latin American oligarchies, and militarily we are already overextended. On the other hand, we can look forward to a lot of good comedy until either Mac or Palin decide that it's time for everyone to enjoy rapture.

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