Tuesday, February 17, 2015

BLOG COMMENTS - FEBRUARY 17, 2015



Dear Friends:

I would like to share with you some of the comments posted by myself in the WSJ Journal Community about important headlines of the Wall Street Journal from February 5 to February 17.

The comments are about politics, economy, business, health and other subjects linked with United States, Europe and other lands.

The majority of these comments generated a good interaction with other members of the Journal Community.

Domingo Trassens
Analyst
World Rethink

February 17, 2014


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BLOG COMMENTS: 2015/02/05– 2015/02/17



Till now, a lot of people think that the beheading of Christians and western journalists is only a local problem of countries where the Islamic extremists have power, or they are fighting against others in civil wars.

Personally, I think that the horrible slaughter of the non-Muslims and western citizens and the kidnapping of innocent people for ransoms go farther. This is the start of a new Islamic-fascism that wants to conquer the world and exterminate the infidels of the Muslim creed.

Step by step, we will see that in different parts of the globe new "branches" of the Islamic State will appear with cruel tactics and similar goals to the extremists of Syria, Iraq and Libya.1 Recommendation 02/17/2015 05:47:50 AM



The last events of France and Denmark confirm the Islamic fascism that is whipping Europe is a devilish movement that wants to destroy the cultural and religious roots of the countries and the principles of freedom that were spread across the Old Continent after the fall of the Nazi regime. 4 Recommendations 02/16/2015 02:58:07 PM



Greece has to negotiate with the members of the European Union and the European Central Bank in a reasonable way.

Till now the authorities of the EU were very tolerant and flexible, while the behavior of the new Athens government is demanding and arrogant.

If the Greeks continue in the current direction, they will have to leave the euro-zone and the European Union. 7 Recommendations 02/16/2015 02:44:10 PM



Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi showed to the world that he has guts reacted immediately against the beheadings of 21 Coptic Christians in Libya.

In front of terrible events like the killing of innocent people for religious extremism, the attitude of Al Sisi was the right answer.

We don’t have to allow that the hate of the Islamic extremists against the Christians and non-Islamic people destroy our society and force us to live underground. 6 Recommendations 02/16/2015 02:24:30 PM



Probably, Boko Haram is using the kidnapped girls as human bombs. This is more than criminal. 02/15/2015 02:57:16 PM



This is enough! Now everybody has something against Brian Williams, when with frequency a lot of members of the media and politicians paint the “truth” with different colors depending of the goals of who writes the story. 

We are not living in a world of angels and innocent children… 2 Recommendations 02/15/2015 02:20:23 PM



Always, the Angela Merkel's missions are difficult and risky.

By the way, some years ago, during the
Georgia crisis, Ms. Merkel had to confront directly the Russian tanks that blocked the access of the capital of this former-Soviet country when she was going to talk with the Georgian President. The press never talked about this incident, but somebody next to her commented in private the terrible moment that the German Chancellor lived, trying to find a peaceful agreement between the two parts, like now between Ukraine and Russia.

In the current moment, Angela Merkel is the unique leader who goes where the conflicts are and tries to build near-impossible bridges with the goal to solve complex issues. 1 Recommendation
02/15/2015 01:26:46 PM



ANSWER TO ANOTHER JOURNAL COMMUNITY MEMBER:  You are completely right. The hostile attitude of Islamic extremists is suffocating traditional expressions of the European culture.

A lot of Muslims don't show gratitude to the European hospitality. They demand aid and assistance. But they don’t answer to the hosts with a warm hand. The intolerance of crowds of ungrateful foreigners will have serious consequences in not long time. 2 Recommendations 02/15/2015 10:34:30 AM



The Nigerians want that the United States makes the hard work of cleaning the African country from the Boko Haram extremists.

The request of the Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan is a dramatic demonstration of the weakness of his government and the Nigerian army forces. But for the United States or other country is a risky compromise send troops for helping a regime like the government of Goodluck Jonathan. 02/14/2015 03:52:41 PM



The Copenhagen shooting is new evidence that Europe has been invaded by followers of the Islam.

The Europeans like to criticize everybody about religious and political subjects, while the Muslims are intolerant with the critic attitude. 1 Recommendation 02/14/2015 03:30:51 PM


The truce does not look that will be long because both parts want to fight. In the ground, we don't feel airs of peace.  02/14/2015 03:04:33 PM



Peggy: Who really can throw the first stone? Everybody makes mistakes, some of them, big mistakes, others only small mistakes…but from my humble perspective, I do not see that it is good that we continue growing the “bad ball” that is the Brian Williams case today. 1 Recommendation 02/13/2015 03:24:40 PM



In the end, Justice will come!!!

During the last decades, Argentina lived immobile in front a parade of very bad politicians who have rotted the ethical roots of the country.

But according all the evidences that we am seeing during the Kirchner cycle, Cristina leads the group of bad politicians, as the ringleader of a gang of criminals who deserve to end their lives in jail. 9 Recommendations 02/13/2015 03:08:53 PM



As we see for the news, Germany continues pushing the economic growth of the euro-zone, while in the other extreme, The Greeks didn’t learn till now that they are the own ruin.
The Greeks want to have a good life without making efforts to put their economy in the average level of the other members of the community. 02/13/2015 02:05:42 PM



France always was important provider of the military sector. We have to remember that it is selling two expensive war ships to Russia

The French don’t care about the ideology or the political regime of their customers.  02/12/2015 03:54:44 PM



It is evident that Iran is achieving its nuclear goals thanks the concessions of the United States. From my point of view, the American diplomacy has let that the Iranians control the game.

Like Henry Kissinger said in the Congress hearing, after
Iran, a series of countries in the Middle East will enter to the Atomic Club in an easy way.

And probably, in short time, small atomic bombs will be sold as a bargain for terrorists and others in any market of the Muslim world. With the money of the ransoms, the bad guys will buy the bombs in the same place where today they purchase conventional weapons and other lethal material for their bloody parties.
02/12/2015 02:58:45 PM



The agreement among Russia and Ukraine looks weak, but the previous expectations were poor.

Despite of all, we have to recognize that the leaders of Germany and France made a huge effort.

It is evident that President Putin does not want to change his plans and the Russia-backed separatists are in a hard position against Kiev authorities. 

From my opinion, the reason that Mr. Putin went to Minsk is because he wants to show an “open position” to reduce the pressure of the economic sanctions of the EU and US.
4 Recommendations
02/12/2015 01:29:21 PM



The sentence that the Captain Francesco Schettino  - 16 years of jail - has received for the shipwreck of the cruise liner Costa Concordia and the death of 32 people is soft due to the magnitude of the disaster he produced. And probably, after 8 or 9 years, they will free him.

In China and other countries, for this kind of disaster, Captain Schettinowould pay his mistake with the death penalty. 4 Recommendations 02/11/2015 03:50:16 PM



Now, President Obama is starting to understand that his original strategy in the fight against ISIS was wrong.

But the problem is that the new plan has to be focused in effective initiatives to defeat the extremists in the ground with the minimum of civil casualties. The Americans don’t want more martyrs like Kayla Mueller. 3 Recommendations 02/11/2015 03:05:24 PM



The drama of the thousands of immigrants who come to Western Europe from Africa, Middle East and Asia is terrible.

However, the European countries can receive only some groups of immigrants. The members of the EU are not in economic and political conditions to integrate massive invasions of people from countries with very different cultures and huge humanitarian and social problems.

It is the United Nations through the High Commissioner for Refugees the international authority that has to take a more effective action to punish the smugglers and stop the trips across the
Mediterranean in the African ports where the crossing operations start.

In addition the UN has to work with the African countries to create the human and social conditions to give better life expectations to the poor population in their own countries. 4 Recommendations
02/11/2015 09:01:04 AM



Today, in Europe, the problems that the refugees are generating are really serious.
Italy opens the doors but after that the refugees go to rich countries of Northern Europe.

This implies more taxes to implement social assistance and educational programs for people who do not have basic knowledge to integrate themselves with the local communities in an easy way.

Last October, in Dresden, Germany, a group of citizens who don’t want to help the immigrants from Muslim countries created a big movement named PEGIDA (Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamization of the West). Similar movements are growing in other places now. 6 Recommendations 02/11/2015 02:01:38 PM



The complete opening to refugees and immigrants of diverse countries will have devastating effects in Europe and in the United States. The humanitarian feelings for the others have limits. In the end, the rich countries will become poor countries. 6 Recommendations 02/11/2015 02:28:50 PM



If one day somebody writes a book about the martyrs of the war on terror, the name of Kayla Jean Mueller deserves to be written in the first line.

Also her name has to lead the list of the new heroes of the humanitarian services of aid to the people who suffer in this world.

We have to hope the jury of the 2015 Nobel Peace Prize considers her name as a postmortem honor to Miss Mueller..

My best prayers for Kayla and her great soul!!! 7 Recommendations 02/10/2015 03:34:18 PM


The current events in Eastern Ukraine don’t show an environment of reconciliation. On the contrary, the fighters of both sides are fighting with fiercer attitude, with the intention of producing the most possible damages to the enemy before the peace negotiation. 1 Recommendation 02/10/2015 01:39:15 PM



RadioShack committed a series of big mistakes during the last few years:

1) It did not update its business model according to the new requirements of the digital era.

2) It hired employees without knowledge about its business and it did not train them in the right direction. (In my last visits to a RadioShack shop, I saw that the employees knew less than me about the products they were selling.)

3) Due to the two previous mistakes, RadioShack lost contact with the real customers of the consumer-electronics business. 2 Recommendations 02/09/2015 02:59:34 PM



I think this is the last effort for a diplomatic solution. If Mr. Putin does not change his attitude, the conflict will enter in a worse phase. 3 Recommendations 02/09/2015 11:52:10 AM



All the companies have an ethical obligation to protect the personal data of their customers, independently that the laws request special procedures.  02/08/2015 02:43:00 PM



Put more heavy weapons in the battlefield imply to extend the war and make its end unpredictable. But we don’t have to admit Russian boots in Ukrainian territory. 1 Recommendation 02/08/2015 12:49:42 PM


The delay of the elections will not help to the Nigerian army to make a big progress in the terror war against Boko Haram. 02/08/2015 12:23:35 PM



The majority of the advices are good, others are very obvious subjects.
For example, it is truth that the experts in personal finance make all complicated to capture stupid customers.

You have to manage your personal finance with a simple mathematics of 1 + 1 is 2.
3 Recommendations
02/08/2015 12:14:03 PM


I think the lawmakers have the right to have their own mind about the Iranian case. We are living in democracy and each branch of the government has to respect the other powers. 3 Recommendations 02/07/2015 09:49:13 PM



RadioShack is part of the history of the consumer-electronic business and the start of the personal computers. Like other companies of the retail market, it suffered the consequences of the evolution of this business to the e-commerce. Its management did not react in time. Now, it is late to rebuild its operations. 1 Recommendation 02/07/2015 09:33:10 PM



I agree with the opinion of Lt. Gen. Frederick “Ben” Hodges, commander of U.S. Army Europe, about Russian actions in Ukraine.

The Russians want to take Eastern Ukraine to consolidate its position in Crimea. The plan of divide Ukraine was clear from the first moment the crisis started. 2 Recommendations 02/07/2015 08:45:08 PM



Every month the Labor Department shows a lot of figures and good graphics and projections, but it is difficult to differentiate the real data from the cosmetics. 1 Recommendation 02/06/2015 03:20:27 PM



If the White House does not change her strategy in the fighting against ISIS, all the high-profile hostages will be killed with horrendous tortures and deaths. 3 Recommendations 02/06/2015 03:01:42 PM



Personally, I agree with the statement that “the Cristina’s joke was not funny. It shows a lack of respect for Chinese people.”

1) The president of a country is the first person who has to show respect for the authorities of other countries in official or private visits.

2) Mrs. Kirchner is not a person with a high cultural level for criticizing people of the other country who is trying to please her with some words in Spanish. She does not speak Chinese and she is not an erudite in her own language. She speaks a Spanish language with a lot of vulgar expressions. Her speech lacks refinement.

3) Mocking the Chinese, she shows to the world that she does not have diplomatic style. Her attitude is giving a very bad image of Argentina.

4) Finally, the incident reflects that President Kirchner tries to mix her domestic problems with her agenda of foreign relationships, with the intention to turn aside the attention from the case of the murder of the prosecutor Nisman. 1 Recommendation 02/06/2015 02:42:37 PM


We have to hope that the invitation of U.S. House Speaker John Boehner to Pope Francis does not create a new conflict between Congress and the White House.

Maybe one day, John Boehner invites to President Putin to speak in Congress without inform to President Obama. 3 Recommendations 02/05/2015 03:35:42 PM


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SOURCES:

1) External Sources: Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Tweeter and PBS NewsHour.

2) Own Sources: My own research for previous publishing projects like TTT of Comlab Corp, Spanish English Club online and others.



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